The lawyers of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash are dragging out the process of his extradition from Austria to the United States, demanding to review the case, Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said on Thursday
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2019) The lawyers of Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash are dragging out the process of his extradition from Austria to the United States, demanding to review the case, Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said on Thursday.In June, the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice approved the extradition of Firtash to the United States. The oligarch's US lawyers disapproved of this decision.
"As for the Firtash case, [his extradition] is not being dragged out by the Austrian side. As for the Austrian side, the Justice Ministry has already adopted a decree on Firtash's extradition, but Firtash and his lawyers accordingly delay this process and insist on the case to be reviewed," Schallenberg said at a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko.
He noted that it was not possible to finish the extradition process before the completion of the legal proceedings.
"After the trial, a decision will be made when this process [extradition to the United States] is completed," the minister added.
Firtash was detained in Vienna at the United States' request in March 2014 and was later released on a 125 million euro bail ($137 million), the largest in the Austrian history. The US Justice Department accused the Ukrainian oligarch and five other businessmen of bribing Indian officials to obtain a permit for the extraction of raw materials in India.
