Belarusian authorities have reportedly provided Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash with diplomatic immunity to prevent his extradition from Austria to the United States, where he is wanted on corruption charges.
A report by Deutsche Welle said on June 27 that it became known at a hearing of the Higher Regional Court in Vienna earlier this month that as of 2021 Firtash has the status of an aide to a Belarusian envoy at a UN agency, which his lawyers insist give their client diplomatic immunity and therefore he cannot be extradited.
The Austrian Justice Ministry, meanwhile, says Firtash has never been properly accredited at the UN office in Vienna and therefore cannot be considered as a person who has diplomatic immunity.
A regional court in Austria ruled in mid-June to send Firtash's case back to the first instance to assess the legality of Firtash's diplomatic status and his immunity from prosecution, Deutsche Welle reported on June 27.
The court said on June 16 that it concluded that new facts and evidence in the case have raised concerns over a February 2017 court decision to extradite Firtash to the United States, adding that the case must be sent for retrial to find out if the new information is true and is sufficient enough to block his extradition.
Firtash, once a powerful ally of Ukraine’s ousted Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych, faces a U.S. indictment accusing him of a conspiracy to pay bribes in India to mine titanium, which is used in jet engines.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Firtash was arrested in Austria in 2014 and then freed on 125 million euros ($136 million) bail, kicking off a still-unresolved legal saga.
A Vienna court initially ruled against extradition on the grounds that the indictment was politically motivated, but in February 2017 a higher court overruled the decision and concluded Firtash must be extradited.
Last month, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Firtash, along with managers of companies under his control, had been served with "notices of suspicion" of embezzlement.
According to the SBU, the damage Ukraine's State Treasury suffered from the embezzlement activities allegedly committed by Firtash’s group in Ukraine's gas transit system are estimated at up to 18 billion hryvnyas ($484 million) between 2016 and 2022 as part of a "large-scale scheme."
In June 2021, Kyiv imposed sanctions on Firtash, accusing him of selling titanium products that Ukraine said ended up being used by Russian military enterprises. Firtash denied the allegations at the time.