German court declines to extradite ex-lawmaker Onyshchenko

The Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg in Germany on May 27 rejected the Ukrainian prosecution’s appeal to extradite Oleksandr Onyshchenko, a fugitive former lawmaker, who is wanted in Ukraine for alleged fraud and money laundering.

Onyshchenko, who is suspected of organizing a $125-million fraud scheme in the country’s natural gas sector, fled Ukraine in 2016  to avoid possible criminal charges. He had been living in Europe, including in Spain and Germany, before being arrested at the end of November 2019.

The German court not only rejected Onyshchenko’s extradition to Ukraine, but also set him free. The former lawmaker has a Russian passport and might consider going there if he is not granted political asylum in Germany, one of his lawyers has previously stated.

According to German media outlets, the court ruled against extradition because the conditions in the Ukrainian pre-trial detention center where Onyshchenko would be held do not meet the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Prior to the ruling, Ukraine was asked to provide the court with information on Onyshchenko’s potential detention conditions. However, the court did not find Kyiv’s answer detailed enough, the German broadcaster DW reported. The court also relied on a report about poor conditions in Ukrainian prisons issued by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Despite freeing Onyshchenko, the court stressed that it was not possible to assess whether the Ukrainian criminal prosecution against Onyshchenko was being carried out for political reasons, something the former lawmaker has alleged.

In Ukraine, the High Anti-Corruption Court started hearing Onyshchenko’s case in absentia on May 13.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) alleges that, while he was a lawmaker, Onyshchenko and his allies coordinated on a scheme that stole state funds during the extraction and sale of natural gas. Onyshchenko denies the charges and calls the case politically-motivated.

The alleged $125-million (Hr 3 billion) fraud took place during a joint venture with Ukrgasvydobuvannia, the country’s largest gas extraction company and a fully-owned subsidiary of state energy giant Naftogaz.

According to NABU, Onyshchenko’s accomplices, employees at Ukrgazvydobuvannia, allowed gas to be sold at a low price to intermediary companies associated with Onyshchenko. Those companies then resold it at market prices, pocketing the difference.

Onyshchenko also allegedly violated a law that prohibits lawmakers from doing business while they are in parliament.

Before being arrested, Onyshchenko lived in Spain, where he also tried to receive political asylum and avoid extradition.

However, in a September 2019 decision, a Spanish court ordered Onyshchenko to return home and voluntarily surrender himself to the Ukrainian authorities, according to the court ruling that Onyshchenko shared with the Kyiv Post back in November.

Onyshenko was meant to fly to Kyiv on Dec. 13, the millionaire told the Kyiv Post in November and showed his Ryanair economy-class ticket. He never did.

Instead, he went to Germany, where he said he planned to buy a horse, and was arrested.