You're reading: Kazakh prosecutors: Banker Ablyazov cannot be extradited without France’s consent

 Former BTA Board Chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov cannot be extradited by Russia or Ukraine to Kazakhstan without France's consent, the Kazakh Prosecutor General's Office said

“The question of further extradition from the Russian Federation and Ukraine is not being discussed at this stage, since the European Convention on Extradition of Dec 13, 1957 does not allow re-extradition in the absence of agreement by the country which extradited the accused in the first place,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Tuesday, responding to a question posed by Interfax.

“Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies therefore continue working with the French authorities over M. Ablyazov’s extradition directly to Kazakhstan,” it said.

While France, Russia and Ukraine are signatories to the said convention, Kazakhstan is not, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Kazakh law enforcement agencies are seeking the ex-banker’s extradition under a UN convention regulating legal cooperation between the UN member states.

The appeal court in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, upheld on Jan 9 the request of the French prosecutor’s office to extradite Ablyazov to Russia or Ukraine. The court resolution said that Russia was a priority variant for the extradition of the fugitive banker.

The former Kazakh banker was detained in southern France on Jul 31 on suspicion of crimes he allegedly committed regarding a bank in Ukraine. The French court had declined several appeals to release Ablyazov on bail.

Ablyazov was detained in France over an international arrest warrant issued by a Kyiv court.

The ex-banker was put on the most wanted list by Ukrainian police in 2010 on suspicion of embezzlement and fraud.

Kazakhstan accuses Ablyazov of financial violations exceeding $6 billion.

According to the information of the Kazakh Prosecutor General’s Office, the activities of Ablyazov and his accomplices “was the subject of an inquiry held by the police of Cyprus, Hungary and Latvia, while the authorities of Ireland and Finland were looking into operations of companies affiliated with Ablyazov.”

The ex-banker’s lawyers fear that in the event of their client’s extradition to Russia or Ukraine there is a risk he will subsequently be extradited to Kazakhstan. Amnesty International, an international human rights group, has called on the French authorities to “not send Ablyazov to any country where he will face serious human rights violations or be forced back to Kazakhstan.”