Austrian Court Grants U.S. Bid to Extradite Dmitry Firtash

[annabanana]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-21/austrian-court-grants-u-s-bid-to-extradite-ukraine-s-firtash

So. It looks like the super sketchy oligarch and Manafort associate is on his way back to the US. We really really really need an independent commission to get to the bottom of this.

[KittyWampus]

1. Rachels segment on this was really interesting!

[annabanana]

2. I agree. ANYONE here who hasn't seen it

should go on back and check it out. . . . last night's program, first piece.

[drm604]

3. I was struck by the judge's response to claims that this is political persecution.

“There’s a high bar to prove political motivation and the case in question doesn’t show any dishonest interest,” the judge said. “The U.S. is a country with a long tradition of democracy and rule of law.”

“The affected person isn’t prosecuted by the U.S. Department of State but from the judiciary,” he said. “And the U.S. judiciary only recently impressively demonstrated that it’s independent from the government when it lifted the entry ban,” he said, referring to the recent ruling suspending the presidential order limiting immigration.

The rest of the world is watching and the examples our system sets can have repercussions beyond the immediate issues being addressed.

[Gothmog]

4. Rachel Maddow will be discussing this tonight

[riversedge]

6. Yes--I am sure she will do a follow up from last night

[riversedge]

5. Not so fast--Looks like he was arrested by Spain. That has to be settled first.....

.....An Austrian appeals court approved a U.S. request to extradite Dmitry Firtash on corruption charges in a surprise decision that opens the way for the Ukrainian tycoon to be sent to the U.S. for trial.

But that could be delayed after the case took another unexpected turn minutes after the verdict on Tuesday, when plainclothes Austrian police arrested Firtash as he left the courthouse on a separate Spanish warrant. Magistrates in Barcelona charged him with money laundering and engaging in organized crime, according to a document seen by Bloomberg..............




................Austria’s Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter said that he won’t make a decision about the U.S. request before Austrian courts have dealt with the Spanish warrant. “At the end of this review the question will have to be answered which request we’ll have to comply with,” Brandstetter told public broadcaster ORF in an interview.......................


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-21/austrian-court-grants-u-s-bid-to-extradite-ukraine-s-firtash