Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In Sweden, former member of parliament Dmytro Svyatash, who called for changes to Ukraine's territorial integrity, was detained after receiving an in absentia verdict in Ukraine.
This is written by the Swedish publication Expressen.
According to his lawyer Mark Safaryan, last week Svyatash arrived in Sweden to attend Stevie Wonder's concert in Stockholm. At passport control, the former deputy, who holds both Ukrainian and Russian citizenship, presented a Ukrainian passport.
However, border police detained him and refused him entry to the country. The reason was Poland's decision to bar his re-entry, which, it is claimed, was entered into the joint database of Schengen Area countries. At the same time, Safaryan argues that the decision has political motives.
“This man is one of the most wanted in Ukraine, and they know that. That's why they are behaving this way,” he said.
The detainee is currently held at the Migration Agency of Sweden’s detention center. In the appeal, his lawyer noted that Svyatash objects to extradition to Ukraine.
According to the court’s decision, the former deputy has time until Wednesday, 28 October, to provide written explanations and complete presenting his position. After that, the court will render a decision in his case.
More about Dmytro Svyatash
According to the CHESNO movement, in 2004, during the Ukrainian presidential election, Dmytro Svyatash was a trusted person for candidate Viktor Yanukovych. From 2005 to 2014, he was a member of the “Party of Regions.”
While serving as a deputy from the “Party of Regions,” he voted for the “language” law expanding the use of the Russian language, and also supported the authoritarian laws 16 of January 2014 of the year.
In 2015, he joined the parliamentary group “The Reconstruction Party,” and in 2019 Svyatash ran as a candidate for the Verkhovna Rada from “Opposition Platform — For Life,” but did not get elected. From that year, he has been residing on the territory of Russia.
In 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine notified Svyatash of suspicion of encroachment on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and inviolability and declared him wanted. And in 2023 he received a suspicion of state treason. According to the investigation, in August 2022, after the occupation of part of the country’s territory by Russian forces, he called for changes to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, collaboration with the occupier authorities.
Former member of parliament Mustafa Nayyem stated that Russia planned to appoint Svyatash as the so-called head of Kharkiv after the city’s occupation.
Eventually, in 2024, Svyatash was found guilty of calls to change Ukraine’s borders, legalization of property, and fraud, and was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. // hromadske
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