The Opposition Platform - For Life (OLE) demands that the Ukrainian authorities stop criminal prosecution of the head of the political council of the party, Viktor Medvedchuk, admit defeat and "stop mockery of the Constitution and laws."

The text of the statement is posted on the website of the political platform.

The political forces believe that the trial of the opposition leader undermined confidence in the country's law enforcement system and caused huge damage to Ukraine's reputation in the international arena.

“After the complete failure of the prosecutors, the court was supposed to release Viktor Medvedchuk.

The fact that this did not happen only confirms the ordered and openly political nature of the judicial persecution unleashed against him ... We will seek a complete withdrawal of the charges, public apologies from the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, the SBU and the National Security and Defense Council, ”said the OLS.

On May 21, the court left Medvedchuk under house arrest, refusing to give him bail to the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada.

At the same time, the instance did not satisfy the request of the prosecution to detain the politician until July 9 with the possibility of paying a bail of 300 million hryvnias.

In a comment to reporters after the court hearing, Medvedchuk accused the prosecutor's office of procedural violations and said that he was dissatisfied with the court's decision.

“We will do everything to prove the groundlessness, bias and approximation of the evidence that was put forward and discussed by the prosecution in today's court session,” Medvedchuk said.

Meanwhile, the trial over the head of the OLE's political council caused riots.

On May 21, in front of the courthouse, where Medvedchuk's appeal on house arrest was considered, clashes broke out between his supporters and members of right-wing radical organizations.

Nationalists burned smoke bombs and chanted insults at the oppositionist.

Cleaning "verticals"

Let us remind you that the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has brought charges against Medvedchuk of high treason and embezzlement of national resources in the "temporarily occupied territory of Crimea."

Some of them also related to the deputy Taras Kozak, who is also a member of the HLE.

Earlier, sanctions were imposed against the politician, some of his associates and his wife Oksana Marchenko on charges of financing terrorism.

On May 14, NSDC Secretary Aleksey Danilov allowed the possibility of extraditing Medvedchuk to Moscow in exchange for "Ukrainian patriots."

Such a decision, according to the official, has the right to make the President of Ukraine.

Commenting on the criminal prosecution of the head of the political council of OLE at the annual press conference, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that “the era of Medvedchuk is coming to an end,” as well as the era of corruption.

“We are cleaning business verticals.

These verticals - in every institution of our state, in every ministry, in parliament, these people have a great influence.

We started, and I will complete it, ”Zelensky said.

According to experts, the Ukrainian leader actually admitted to initiating a deliberate criminal prosecution of the oppositionist.

Zelenskiy's main goal is to clear the political field from opponents in order to increase the rating and the chances of success in the fight for a second presidential term, analysts say.

“The goal of this case is to prevent the emergence and development of alternative political forces.

True, I do not think that due to the disappearance of the alternative force in the political field, Zelensky's rating will rise.

In my opinion, the level of support that he now has is ensured by the fact that, against the background of Zelensky, other politicians look even worse, ”political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak said in an interview with RT.

"Do not need proof"

On May 22, on his Telegram channel, People's Deputy from the OLS, former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin made a forecast that the authorities would try to sentence Medvedchuk "to a long term of imprisonment."

According to him, the country's leadership, the prosecutor's office and the court "are in collusion" on the oppositionist's case.

Kuzmin believes that the authorities are striving to split the OLE, "to clean out any dissent and political competition for the final transformation of Ukraine into a dictatorial and criminal state."

  • Head of the Political Council of the OPSL Viktor Medvedchuk at the Kiev Court of Appeal

  • RIA News

However, according to experts, it will not be easy for the Prosecutor General's Office and the SBU to prove Medvedchuk's guilt: according to Alexander Dudchak, there is no corpus delicti in the case of the oppositionist.

In addition, the head of the OLE political council has powerful legal support that will be difficult for the Ukrainian justice system to ignore.

“It is difficult to predict how the situation will develop and how it will end.

Medvedchuk is on the side of the absence of corpus delicti and a strong team of qualified lawyers who are able to prove innocence and substantiate the need to drop the charges.

But the problem is that the current judicial system and the structure of power in Ukraine sometimes do not need proof, ”says Dudchak.

The expert suggests that the president's office has not yet made a final decision on the Medvedchuk case.

Nevertheless, the interlocutor of RT does not exclude that the Zelensky administration may "push through" the guilty verdict.

As Dudchak explained, in Ukraine, the courts very often make decisions "due to the political situation."

In a commentary to RT, the president of the Ukrainian Analytical Center, Oleksandr Okhrimenko, noted that the trial of the head of the OPSL political council could take years, but the risk of his being sent to jail still remains. 

“It is difficult to predict how Zelensky will behave.

Obviously, he can put pressure on the court, get an arrest and a conviction, ”says Okhrimenko.

At the same time, a RT source in the president's office claims that Zelensky is not going to seek Medvedchuk's imprisonment.

In addition, the President of Ukraine takes into account the factor of the opponent's strong lawyers, which can give the criminal prosecution a great international resonance.

The main task of the president is to bring down the growing rating of the oppositionist and the HLE.

“Zelensky's task is not to put Viktor Medvedchuk in prison.

In addition, he has strong lawyers, so, at least for now, no judge dares to appoint him a real term.

There is an understanding that no serious evidence of the politician's guilt has yet been presented, ”explained a source in the office of the President of Ukraine.

A source in the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine also believes that Zelensky is looking for an opportunity to increase his rating through PR in the fight against Medvedchuk.

The interlocutor of RT believes that the prosecution has little reason to substantiate its claims.

In turn, a RT source in the Servant of the People party insists that the “show around Medvedchuk” organized by the president’s office is aimed more at “placating” the United States.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy's annual press conference

  • © president.gov.ua

“It is critical for Ukraine to get new loans, otherwise the country will face bankruptcy with all the ensuing consequences.

To get this money, officials constantly talk about Russian aggression and found a new object of hatred - the main “pro-Moscow villain” Viktor Medvedchuk, ”the deputy said.

However, Alexander Okhrimenko adheres to a different point of view.

The expert believes that Zelensky's entourage is serious about cleaning up the political field of Ukraine and may well implement plans to imprison the opposition.  

“The arrest and sentence to Medvedchuk, if this happens, will be a signal to the rest of the opposition that they may also be subject to criminal prosecution.

As a consequence, opposition as a real force will simply disappear.

Ukraine will turn into an authoritarian state.

The fact that Medvedchuk has not been imprisoned so far gives hope that Ukraine will still avoid this scenario, ”concluded Okhrimenko.