A French court refused Ukraine’s request to extradite oligarch Zhevago

The Paris Court of Appeal has denied the request of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) to extradite sanctioned businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago.

This was reported by the businessman’s press service.

“The court cannot conclude that the requesting party can guarantee that Kostyantyn Zhevago will face a court that ensures the fundamental guarantees of procedural fairness and the protection of human rights,” the release quotes the court’s decision as saying.

The French court did not accept Kyiv’s assurances regarding the guarantees of Zhevago’s right to a fair and impartial trial, recognizing that there are significant risks of violations of his fundamental rights.

Zhevago was sought for extradition in connection with a bribery case involving Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev.

This marks the second time a French court has refused to extradite the businessman. In March 2023, a court in Chambéry rejected a request by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) for his extradition in a criminal case concerning embezzlement at the Finance and Credit Bank, which was owned by Zhevago.

It should be recalled that in February, President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against Zhevago. Reports indicated that the move was linked to the government’s desire to confiscate his mineral resource assets, primarily the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant (Poltavsky GOK) — the main asset of Zhevago’s company Ferrexpo.

It is also worth noting that this is not the first time European courts have refused Ukraine’s extradition requests, citing distrust in Ukraine’s judicial system and concerns about human rights protections, especially during wartime.