Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov has been held in a Venice prison since July on U.S. charges that he helped secure a gold medal for Russia in the pairs competition at Salt Lake City in exchange for a victory for the French ice dancing team.
Tokhtakhounov denies the charges.
On Jan. 7, he was ordered extradited to the United States by a court in Venice. He appealed to Italy's Court of Cassation, which overturned the Venice decision Monday, said attorney Luca Saldarelli.
"They have canceled the Venice sentence, therefore there will not be extradition to the United States," Saldarelli said in a telephone interview. "As far as I am concerned Tokhtakhounov is free, free to go home to Rome, or even to Russia," he said.
The court gave no explanation for its ruling, he said, adding that it usually takes several weeks for justices' written rulings to be released. There was no answer at the court late Monday.
Saldarelli has maintained that the extradition process was legally flawed.
"I have always said that that extradition could not happen, that it is a procedure that is outside the rules," he said. "Perhaps they got the law wrong, perhaps the judges in Venice made a mistake."
Saldarelli conceded there could still be legal proceedings in Italy, where Tokhtakhounov had been under investigation by an organized-crime unit of the Italian police before his July 31, 2002, arrest on the skating charges.
But Saldarelli stressed his client was being held under the extradition charges only and as a result was now free.
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