The Prosecutor General’s Office is working with international partners to extradite Ukrainian MP Artem Dmytruk. He is wanted in connection with his absconding from justice in Ukraine. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Law enforcement officials did not name the MP’s name. However, they clarify that his whereabouts have now been established and a preventive measure has been imposed on him by the court.
“At present, the MP’s whereabouts have been established and the court has imposed a preventive measure on him. As a reminder, the Ukrainian MP is suspected of committing attacks by a group of people on a law enforcement officer and a military officer, attempted theft of firearms, inflicting moderate bodily harm to the victim and hooliganism,” the agency said.
The former member of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party told The Independent that he was forced to leave Ukraine allegedly because of religious harassment.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Dmytruk intends to argue that he is a victim of political repression by the government because of his support for the church.
“Now there is a political persecution against me and my family, against myself for my political views and my support of the UOC,” the MP complained.
What is known about the case of Artem Dmytruk
on 25 August 2024, the Office of the Prosecutor General officially announced that MP Artem Dmytruk had been served with a notice of suspicion on charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer and a military officer.
The suspicion was served under two articles:
- ч. 1 of Art. 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – gross violation of public order on the grounds of clear disrespect for society, accompanied by particular audacity.
- ч. 1 Art. 122 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: intentional infliction of moderate bodily harm.
According to the investigation, the suspect, while in Odesa, attacked a law enforcement officer while performing his official duties. In doing so, the MP intentionally inflicted bodily harm on the law enforcement officer and tried to steal the law enforcement officer’s weapon.
And in Kyiv, during a dispute with a military officer, Dmytruk hit him several times.
Commenting on the Prosecutor General’s Office’s report, Dmytruk himself said in his Telegram:
“No one handed me any suspicions. And all these cases are a completely falsified and invented story.”
On the same day, according to Glavred, the MP was spotted at the Stefan Voda police station. He was allegedly writing a statement about illegal border crossing in the presence of an investigator. This is an article that allows for refugee status.
The Prosecutor General’s Office responded promptly and opened a criminal investigation into Dmytruk’s possible illegal border crossing. SBI investigators conducted a series of searches and interrogations to find out how the MP crossed the border and who helped him.
At the same time, Dmytruk himself began to claim on his Telegram channel that his family, who were in Europe, had been kidnapped.
“They tried to kidnap my family! My mother, wife and two young children were kidnapped from a hotel in Europe yesterday. After the first unsuccessful attempt and the measures we took, they tried again at the airport! Thank God, good people helped us, they engaged a security company that worked perfectly!” the fugitive MP wrote.
Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigation has already officially stated that Artem Dmytruk illegally crossed the state border in Odesa region and travelled to Moldova. The media even wrote about the details of this incident. According to journalists, Dmytruk crossed the border of Moldova on foot through the Palanca checkpoint.
After that, he asked for protection and was granted temporary asylum while his case was being considered. From the police station, Dmytruk immediately went to Chisinau. At that time, Moldovan law enforcement officers had already received a request from Ukraine to detain the MP. Since the request had no legal basis (a court decision or a suspicion, which was announced to the MP only the next day), Dmytruk was able to board a plane and leave Moldova. According to sources cited by the media, he flew to Rome and then to London.
However, later it turned out that Dmytruk was first taken from Kyiv to Odesa region. There, he changed cars. After that, the MP was taken to the border. Dmytruk illegally crossed the border on foot near the Pavlivka checkpoint, thus entering the so-called Transnistria
on 29 August, the Prosecutor General’s Office put MP Artem Dmytruk on the wanted list. On the same day, the Pechersk Court of Kyiv imposed a preventive measure in the form of detention on him in absentia. It will be applied when Dmytruk is returned to Ukraine.