Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash is trying to get diplomatic immunity through his work at UNIDO, which is the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
This is reported by Deutsche Welle with reference to the text of the decision of the Higher Land Court of Vienna.
Court documents state that Firtash has the status of advisor to the permanent representation of Belarus at international organizations in Vienna. He was delegated as a representative to the UN on June 29, 2021. It is on the basis of this status that Dmytro Firtash demands to stop the extradition procedure to the USA, referring to diplomatic immunity.
The appeal in the decision of June 14 required the court of first instance to take into account Firtashʼs work in UN structures and determine whether he falls under the status of a diplomat during the retrial. If the answer is positive, Firtash will be able to avoid extradition to the US, where he is accused of corruption and money laundering.
The Austrian government has stated that Firtash is not properly accredited by UNIDO and does not have the appropriate accreditation card from the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That is, Vienna does not consider Firtash a person to whom the privileges of a diplomat, including legal immunity, apply.
- Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash has been in Austria since 2014, where legal proceedings regarding his extradition to the USA are ongoing. There, he is accused of money laundering and the creation of organizations operating under the influence of racketeering and corruption schemes abroad.