French appeals court overturns Ablyazov extradition order

    By Charles Forelle
    Mukhtar Ablyazov had been on the run for a year and a half before being arrested at a villa near Cannes, France, last July. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
    France's top appeals court Wednesday overturned a lower-court ruling that had cleared the way for the extradition of fugitive Kazakh financier Mukhtar Ablyazov to Russia or Ukraine, according to a statement from Mr. Ablyazov's lawyer.
    The extradition proceeding will now be reheard by a court in Lyon, said the lawyer, Peter Sahlas.
    A spokesman for the Cour de Cassation in Paris wasn't immediately able to comment.
    Ablyazov, once one of Kazakhstan's most powerful bankers, had been on the run for a year and a half before being arrested at a villa near Cannes, France, last July. He is wanted by Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan on fraud-related charges, and a French court in Aix-en-Provence had in January approved his extradition to Russia or Ukraine. He currently resides in a prison on the outskirts of Aix.
    Ablyazov's tale is extraordinary. Alongside his business activity, Mr. Ablyazov co-founded a political party that opposed Kazakhstan's authoritarian president. He was jailed in Kazakhstan, then pardoned and returned to banking. In 2009, Kazakhstan nationalized BTA and Mr. Ablyazov fled for London.
    BTA accused him in English courts of pilfering billions from the bank through a quilt of shell companies, and English judges have awarded the bank more than $4 billion in judgments. Mr. Ablyazov denies any misappropriation and says the bank's pursuit is in retaliation for his political activities.
    He fled Britain in 2012 on the eve of a contempt-of-court sentence that would have jailed him for 22 months for lying under oath and violating an order freezing his assets, the Wall Street Journal reports.