Kozeny extradition order overturn:
By ARTESIA DAVIS, Guardian Senior Reporter -
Nassau, Bahamas:


A judge overturned the extradition order against Czech businessman Viktor Kozeny, on the grounds that crimes for which his extradition was sought were not illegal in The Bahamas. And the judge also concluded the United States' government's failure to disclose material beneficial to Kozeny made the request an abuse of process.

But Kozeny is not in the clear yet. Prosecutors intend to appeal the decision of Supreme Court Justice Jon Isaacs. Justice Isaacs delivered his 59-page judgment on Wednesday.

Kozeny, who is better known as "The Pirate of Prague", is wanted in New York on charges of plotting to bribe government officials in the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.

He was charged in a 27-count indictment in US District Court in Manhattan in October 2005. Kozeny was held in prison from his arrest on Oct. 5, 2005 until April 2007 when he was freed on $300,000 bail.

The indictment said Kozeny and two other men, Frederick Bourke and David Pinkerton tried to buy off senior Azerbaijan officials in a bid to gain control of the state-owned oil company SOCAR. They were charged under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which forbids American citizens and their companies from bribing foreign public officials.

Justice Isaacs noted that Kozeny did not deny his involvement in the bribery scheme. He admitted to paying Azeri officials millions of dollars in cash, giving them shares in companies under his control, and paying for their medical care.

And although this conduct may be "reprehensible", Justice Isaacs said the conduct is not an offense under the laws of The Bahamas. Since the substantive charge was dismissed on this ground, the conspiracy charges were also thrown out. The absence of a corresponding law on the Bahamian books made the offenses non-extradition ones, Justice Isaacs said.

And Justice Isaacs further found the proceedings amounted to an abuse of process because of the United States' failure to disclose a New York judge's ruling regarding Kozeny's lawyer Hans Bodmer, who is Swiss.

Bodmer was also charged under the FCPA. But Judge Scheindlin found in 2004 that the criminal penalties of the FCPA did not apply to Bodmer because he is not an American citizen. Kozeny had argued the FCPA was not applicable to him as a non-American citizen during extradition proceedings before the magistrate.

Justice Isaacs noted that the United States had a duty to reveal Judge Scheindlin's decision in the Bodmer case as it had more than "passing significance" to Kozeny's case. To qualify as an extradition offense, the crime has to be punishable by a minimum sentence of a year. Justice Isaacs noted that if the magistrate and foreign affairs minister had known about the American's judge's ruling, the extradition proceeding may never have commenced, "thereby enabling the applicant to avoid the discomfort of two years on remand."

10/26/07