Gusinsky escapes extradition

Gusinsky has been held in Spain since December

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Russian media baron Vladimir Gusinsky will not be extradited from Spain to Russia.

Spain's National Court announced its decision on Wednesday and is expected to explain its ruling later.

"The decision is against extradition of Mr Gusinsky," defence lawyer Domingo Plazas said.

Spanish prosecutors have three days to lodge an appeal against the ruling.

Gusinsky, 48, was arrested in Spain last December on an international warrant sought by Russian authorities who accused him of fraud.

He said the charges were "false and absurd" and that they were politically motivated because his company has criticised the Russian Government.

AUDIO CNN's Al Goodman: Good news for Gusinsky after setbacks 818K/76 sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Matthew Chance: Russia may appeal 690K/74 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    REFERENCE NTV: Russian media battle   •  Putin accused of NTV plot   •  Who owns what in Russia's media   •  Shrinking free media   •  Timeline of events   •  NTV fact file   •  Gazprom fact file   •  VIDEO: Vladimir Guskinsky interview   •  Profile: Boris Jordan   •  Profile: Yevgeny Kiselyov   •  Profile: Ted Turner   •  Profile: Vladimir Gusinsky

Initially Gusinsky, one of the owners of Russia's beleaguered NTV independent television network, was released soon after his arrest on $5.5 million bail and allowed to remain under house arrest at his luxury villa in Sotogrande.

But in March he was jailed again and then released when the Spanish court ruled 2-1 to reverse its decision to jail him.

Russian prosecutors claim Gusinsky overstated the assets of his Media-Most company to win $300 million in loan guarantees in 1996 from the Gazprom.

Gusinsky insists that the loan has been fully repaid.

Court sources say the tribunal is expected to rule that the grounds for Russia's indictment of Gusinsky would not amount to a crime in Spain and that this is the key criteria for deciding extradition cases.

As Gusinsky fought the extradition, the bitter takeover battle for his media empire reached its peak last weekend when Gazprom seized control of NTV.

In a pre-dawn move, the new owners changed security guards and fired all staff critical of the takeover.

Since then, an independent radio station owned by Gusinsky has also come under threat after three of its sister media outlets were taken over or closed down.

The editor-in-chief of Moscow's respected radio station Ekho Moskvy said he suspected his operation was also in danger after the country's sole independent national television station, NTV, as well as the newspapers Itogi and Sevodnya lost their independent voice.

The editor, Alexei Venediktov, added that Ekho Moskvy would lose its independence once millions of dollars of debts to the state-owned gas giant Gazprom matured in three months.

Profile: Vladimir Gusinsky
April 10, 2001
Fear amid Gusinsky's media empire
April 17, 2001
Ex-NTV staff vow to set up rival
April 14, 2001
Battle for NTV reaches climax
April 14, 2001

NTV
Russian Government

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