Vienna court overturns decision not to extradite Ukrainian businessman Firtash to U.S
VIENNA. Feb 21 (Interfax) - A panel of judges at the Higher Regional Court Vienna has granted an appeal by Austrian prosecutors against a lower court decision denying Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash's extradition to the United States at a request by U.S. authorities, one of the panel judges announced at a hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
At the same time, the judge said the final decision on Firtash's extradition rests with the federal justice minister.
As the main justification for such a decision, the judge referred to Austria's extradition treaty with the U.S. and a similar agreement at the European Union level. As an additional argument, he stressed the importance of combating corruption.
At the same time, the judge pointed out that an extradition decision would not be an admission that the accused is a criminal.
About 90 similar cases were considered last year, he added.
The judge reiterated the importance of conducting formal checks into an extradition request to see whether there are grounds to suspect that the person whose extradition is being requested could break the law. The U.S. submitted enough documentation to conclude that there are grounds for such suspicions, the Austrian judge said.