Ukrainian Court Bans Pro-Russia Political Party; Party’s Property & Assets Confiscated by the State

A court in Kyiv has banned the pro-Russian party “Opposition Platform – For Life,” the country’s Justice Ministry declared.

The political party is led by jailed pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk.

The Justice Ministry issued a statement after the Administrative Court of Appeals No. 8 handed down the decision on June 20, saying that the party’s property and assets will be confiscated by the State Treasury.

‼️A #Ukrainian court has banned the pro-Kremlin party "Opposition Platform – For Life", the country's Justice Ministry declared. pic.twitter.com/qA1Iznf0ZD

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 20, 2022

Since 2018, Putin's close ally, Viktor Medvedchuk, has been the chairman of the party. On April 12, 2022, Medvedchuk was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine when he was trying to flee from Ukraine 2/2

— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) June 20, 2022

RFE/RL reported:

Medvedchuk was captured by Ukrainian law enforcement in April after he violated house-arrest restrictions and tried to flee to Russia.

The leader of the OPZZh, which advocated close ties with Russia, was arrested last year on charges of treason and terrorism financing.

The 67-year-old Medvedchuk denies the charges and calls them politically motivated.

Medvedchuk, who has vacationed with Putin and even made him the godfather of his child, is one of Ukraine’s wealthiest individuals, with a fortune estimated at around $620 million by Forbes, including energy assets in Russia.

Ukraine placed sanctions on Medvedchuk in February 2021, freezing his assets, and took off the air three television stations it said belonged to him for promoting Russian propaganda.

Radio Svoboda added:

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The trial was held behind closed doors. A representative of the OPZZh party took part in the court hearing online.

“The court decided to transfer all property, funds and other assets of this party to state ownership. This also applies to regional, city and district organizations of this political party, as well as primary branches and other structural entities, ” the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine said.

Representatives of the JRC have 20 days to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.

According to the Chesno movement, the Opposition Platform For Life became the first banned party to try to defend its interests during the trial.

“Due to the fact that the court did not allow journalists to the courtroom, the arguments of the parties to the trial are not known and will become available only after the full court decision is made public, ” Chesno said .

On May 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law banning pro-Russian political parties.