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Austrian court turns down US extradition request for Ukrainian oligarch

Associated Press
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Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash waits for the start of his trial at the main court in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, April 30, 2015. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in March 2014 on an American warrant charging him with bribery and other offenses. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) (The Associated Press)

Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash waits for the start of his trial at the main court in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, April 30, 2015. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in March 2014 on an American warrant charging him with bribery and other offenses. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) (The Associated Press)

Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash waits for the start of his trial at the main court in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, April 30, 2015. Firtash was arrested in Vienna in March 2014 on an American warrant charging him with bribery and other offenses. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) (The Associated Press)

An Austrian judge has turned down a U.S. extradition request for a Ukrainian oligarch suspected of paying millions of dollars in bribes to Indian officials.

Judge Christoph Bauer said Thursday the evidence presented by U.S. legal officials was not sufficient to justify Dymitro Firtash's extradition.

Firtash was indicted by a U.S. grand jury two years ago for allegedly paying off the officials through U.S. banks in exchange for securing titanium mining rights in India.

He was arrested a year ago in Vienna but posted bail of 125 million euros (nearly $140 million) shortly afterward.

Firtash earned millions in the natural gas trading sector under deposed pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich. His lawyers claimed that his arrest in Austria at a time of political turmoil in Ukraine was politically motivated.