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Reuters

An Austrian court has refused to extradite Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash to the United States, accepting his argument that political motivations lay behind US efforts to try him on corruption charges.
One of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, Firtash, 49, was arrested in Vienna a year ago at the request of US authorities, which have been investigating him since 2006.

He was released from detention in March 2014 after posting bail amounting to €125 million (HK$1.08 billion).
The billionaire business magnate told the court that allegations he had conspired to bribe Indian government officials to win licenses to mine titanium were "absolutely untrue", and described himself as a victim of a political campaign.
"I have already expressed many times my confidence in the Austrian justice system. Today this confidence has proven to be justified," he said in a statement that was released by his lawyers on Thursday.
Judge Christoph Bauer said US officials had failed to make a sufficient case of any wrongdoing. He said Firtash could have his passport bank and leave Austria, but he kept the bail in place until the ruling is legally binding.
That may take some time as prosecutors filed an appeal against the verdict. His attorneys said Firtash would remain in Vienna until the verdict was final.
A US grand jury in 2013 indicted the industrialist, along with a member of India's parliament and four others.
The detention of Firtash, whose business concerns in gas trading and chemicals thrived under Ukraine's ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovich, coincided with an escalation in Ukraine's political crisis, which pits the West against Russia.
Firtash's legal team had argued that the criminal case intended to exert pressure on an influential man whom Washington saw as a representative of Russian interests in Ukraine and a disruptive factor in its politics.
They said the case should be thrown out on several grounds, including a lack of evidence or US jurisdiction and the fact that charges against him were not crimes in Austria.


Vienna refuses US attempts to extradite Ukrainian industrialist 

Dmytro Firtash, at court in Vienna on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Dmytro Firtash, at court in Vienna on Thursday.Photo: AFP

News

World

An Austrian court has refused to extradite Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash to the United States, accepting his argument that political motivations lay behind US efforts to try him on corruption charges.
