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France to extradite Kazakh tycoon Mukhtar Ablyazov France to extradite Kazakh tycoon Mukhtar Ablyazov
(about 1 hour later)
A French court has ruled that a Kazakh tycoon and dissident, Mukhtar Ablyazov, should be extradited to Russia or Ukraine to face fraud charges. A French court has ruled that Kazakh tycoon and dissident Mukhtar Ablyazov should be extradited to Russia or Ukraine to face fraud charges.
He is accused of stealing billions of dollars from the Kazakh BTA Bank, which also operates in Russia and Ukraine.He is accused of stealing billions of dollars from the Kazakh BTA Bank, which also operates in Russia and Ukraine.
The court said Russia should take priority. He was arrested on the French Riviera last July.The court said Russia should take priority. He was arrested on the French Riviera last July.
He denies the allegations. His children say his life would be in danger if he were to be transferred to Kazakhstan.He denies the allegations. His children say his life would be in danger if he were to be transferred to Kazakhstan.
Both Ukraine and Russia have requested his extradition. His lawyer said he would appeal against the ruling. His lawyers say he will appeal against the ruling.
BTA welcomed the ruling in a statement quoted by Reuters, saying that the decision would help recover billions of euros allegedly misappropriated by Ablyazov.
The US-based organisation Human Rights Watch says that if returned to Kazakhstan, Ablyazov would be "at serious risk of ill-treatment and would face a flagrant denial of his fair trial rights".The US-based organisation Human Rights Watch says that if returned to Kazakhstan, Ablyazov would be "at serious risk of ill-treatment and would face a flagrant denial of his fair trial rights".
He is a former Kazakh energy and trade minister, who fled Kazakhstan in 2009. Ablyazov is a former Kazakh energy and trade minister, who fled the country in 2009.
Last November the English High Court found Ablyazov had defrauded BTA Bank of $300m (£183m) in investment bonds, and ordered him to pay $400m to BTA. In 2011, he was granted political asylum in the UK, but disappeared after being sentenced to jail for contempt of court, only to reappear in France.
The judgement relates to one of 11 sets of legal proceedings against Ablyazov in England.
Ablyazov, 50, says the allegations against him are politically motivated and designed to eliminate him as a rival to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.Ablyazov, 50, says the allegations against him are politically motivated and designed to eliminate him as a rival to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Human rights campaigners have accused President Nazarbayev of silencing independent media and persecuting political opponents, as well as using the police and courts to keep a tight grip on power.Human rights campaigners have accused President Nazarbayev of silencing independent media and persecuting political opponents, as well as using the police and courts to keep a tight grip on power.
'Very naive'
Ablyazov is accused of embezzling $5bn (£3bn; 3.7bn euros) in Russia and $400m in Ukraine.
The court in Aix-en-Provence said it favoured his extradition to Russia in view of the greater sum involved.
A lawyer for the tycoon, Olivier Quesneau, said: "French justice is not doing itself an honour."
Another defence lawyer, Bruno Rebstock, said: "Either it's very naive about states widely recognised as corrupt or it [the ruling] is a sign of the political powers' sway over the court."
The defence team say extradition to Russia or Ukraine would be a first step to returning him to Kazakhstan and an uncertain fate.
However, prosecutors argued at a hearing in December that there was no realistic possibility of Russia or Ukraine re-extraditing him as this would breach their extradition agreements with France.
"Extraditing him means condemning him to death," Ablyazov's wife Alma Shalabayeva said.
His elder daughter Madina said the decision shamed the French judicial system.
While on the run, Ablyazov is believed to have also spent time in Latvia, Switzerland and Italy.
A huge political storm broke in Italy last year after his wife and younger daughter were deported from that country to Kazakhstan.
After protests by human rights campaigners, they were allowed to return to Rome in December.
In November the High Court in London found Ablyazov had defrauded BTA Bank of $300m in investment bonds, and ordered him to pay $400m to BTA.
That judgement relates to one of 11 sets of legal proceedings against Ablyazov in England.