Ukraine issued an international arrest warrant for Zhevago back in 2021

Frenchcourt refuses to extradite Zhevago to Ukraine - media

Ukraineissued an international arrest warrant for Zhevago back in 2021

A Frenchcourt has rejected the Ukrainian government's appeal and ruled that businessmanKostiantyn Zhevago is not subject to extradition in connection withembezzlement charges. This is reported by Reuters .

Thecourt's position

"(Thecourt) concludes that the applicant state is unable to guarantee that Zhevagowill be tried by a court that can provide fundamental procedural guarantees andprotection of the rights of the defense," the court said in a verdictobtained by Reuters.

Ukraineissued an international arrest warrant for Zhevago, who served in parliamentfrom 1999 to 2019, in 2021.

Zhevago'sposition

Accordingto Ekonomichna Pravda , the press service of KostyantynZhevago said that the French Supreme Court, after a detailed analysis of allthe materials submitted, taking into account all the evidence and argumentspresented by the prosecution and defense, put an end to the extradition caseagainst the oligarch and lifted all restrictions on him.

"Zhevagohimself has once again stated that the case against him is fabricated and hasno legal basis, and has signs of political persecution and pressure. Theoligarch stated that he wants to bring the case, which has been underinvestigation for more than 4 years, either to closure or to trial as soon aspossible, but neither the SBI nor the Prosecutor General's Office areinterested in this," the statement said.

What wasthe background?

LastDecember, Konstantin Zhevago was detained at a ski resort in Courchevel at therequest of the Ukrainian authorities. He is suspected of embezzling $113million from the Finance and Credit Bank, which caused damage to its depositorsand the interests of the state. Finance and Credit Bank went bankrupt in 2015, Radio Svoboda reports.

The courtlater agreed to release Kostiantyn Zhevago on bail of one million euros.

In earlyAugust, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-CorruptionProsecutor's Office notified the owner of the Financeand Credit group of suspicion of providing undue benefits to the chairman and judges of theSupreme Court in exchange for a decision in his favor in a business case.

Earlier itwas reported that Ukraine has made progress in returningmore than $113 million in the accounts of Konstantin Zhevago from Switzerland.