A Ukrainian billionaire and former legislator suspected of embezzling more than USD 100 million appeared in a French court on Thursday, calling the case against him politically driven and declaring he wants to return to Ukraine to fight Russians who invaded his country.
Mining magnate Kostiantyn Zhevago, 48, was arrested in the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps last week based on an international warrant issued by Ukraine.
“It's really a political thing. I have always fought corrupt people in Ukraine,” Zhevago told a court hearing on Thursday in the Alpine city of Chambery. His wife and daughter were also present.
Ukrainian authorities submitted 244 pages of documents supporting their request for Zhevago's extradition, and the court adjourned until January 19 to study them.
Zhevago said he had nothing to do with the embezzlement he is accused of, and vigorously objected to extradition.
“I want to return to Ukraine, but not to go to prison — to fight against the (Russian) aggressors," he said in his closing appeal.
Zhevago was the principal beneficiary of Ukraine's now-defunct Finance and Credit Bank and the former chief executive of mining company Ferrexpo, among the world's top exporters of iron ore pellets and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Its operating base is in central Ukraine.