"Political hostage of the current government": what could be behind Zelensky's proposal to extradite Medvedchuk to Russia

Viktor Medvedchuk does not have Russian citizenship and is not interested in the possibility of exchange in the Russian Federation, which was announced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

This is stated in the statement of the politician published on the website of the party "Opposition Platform - For Life" (OLLP).

“The fact that the president, ignoring the constitutional principle of the presumption of innocence, allows himself to speculate about exchange, clearly demonstrates the legal and moral abyss Ukraine has collapsed into, and in fact testifies that the country has ceased to exist as a rule of law,” the statement said.

Medvedchuk stressed that he "did not have and does not have any other citizenship, except Ukrainian."

“I am a citizen of Ukraine and I will be one, despite the illegal, criminal pressure that is being exercised against me by the authorities today,” the politician said.

Viktor Medvedchuk, the head of the political council of the PLOJ, notes that he considers "fabrication of criminal cases" against himself "exclusively as illegal criminal prosecution and political repression."

The day before, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kiev could consider the possibility of exchanging the Medvedchuk under investigation with Russia if he had Russian citizenship.

“If, for example, Russia would confirm that Mr Medvedchuk has Russian citizenship, for example (let's say, it is quite possible), then we would be happy after this confirmation or at least a hint to consider the possibility of exchanging Mr Medvedchuk for real heroes and citizens of Ukraine who are not in Ukraine ", - quotes Zelensky as" Interfax-Ukraine ".

At the same time, a RT source in the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice noted that the country's constitution does not provide for such exchanges.

“From the standpoint of common sense, such statements raise a lot of questions.

First, who determines who can and cannot be changed?

Is it just the president or other officials too?

Secondly, who are the “real heroes and citizens of Ukraine”?

It is clear that Medvedchuk is being persecuted in society because of his pro-Russian position, but breaking the law just because the politician does not like it, and even at the suggestion of the president, is already beyond the bounds, ”the official said.

Let us remind you that the criminal prosecution of Viktor Medvedchuk has been going on for several months.

In May, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine conducted searches in his house and the office of the Opposition Platform - For Life.

Then the politician said that the real purpose of the searches was to hand him over to him "a suspicion of high treason, fabricated by order of the authorities."

The head of the political council of the OLE added that everything that happens to him "is a political reprisal" for his principled position.

Later, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine reported that the investigation into Medvedchuk had been completed and the case would be brought to court.

• Vladimir Zelensky

• AP

• © Aaron Chown

He was charged under the articles "High treason" and "Violation of the laws and customs of war."

The investigation claims that Medvedchuk and the deputy of the Rada Taras Kozak allegedly transferred data representing state secrets to the Russian side and tried to conduct "anti-Ukrainian activity" through Ukrainians working in Russia.

It is worth noting that Kozak is the owner of the 112, News One and ZIK TV channels closed by Zelensky's decision.

On May 13, the court placed Medvedchuk under house arrest.

Even then, the Ukrainian authorities began to voice the idea of ​​exchanging it for Ukrainian citizens convicted in Russia.

This, in particular, was stated by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov.

“I don’t know why it is proposed to put up a Ukrainian politician for an exchange, the question is whether the Ukrainian politician himself wants this.

In general, this is a rather unformulated idea, it hardly needs to be seriously considered, ”said the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

New charges

In early October, new charges were brought against Viktor Medvedchuk.

According to the SBU, he was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to undermine Ukraine's energy security.

Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova explained that the charges relate to the politician's alleged involvement in the supply of coal from the "occupied territory" in Donbass.

“Investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation (State Bureau of Investigation. -

), together with SBU officers under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General's Office, established the involvement of the People's Deputy of Ukraine in the implementation of a criminal scheme for the supply of coal products from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The period covering these actions is the end of 2014 - the beginning of 2015.

The amount spent by state-owned Ukrainian enterprises is more than 200 million hryvnia (540 million rubles), ”she quoted TASS as saying.

Opposition Platform - For Life released a statement that new suspicions about the politician, as well as record amounts of collateral, arose against the backdrop of the energy crisis in Ukraine, as well as an offshore scandal in which Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his entourage were implicated.

“By such actions, Zelensky’s authorities are trying to divert attention from the scandals that accompany the activities of the president and his entourage: the offshore scandal associated with the publication of Pandora’s Dossier, the resignation of the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, designed to finally put an end to the independence of the legislative branch, and a number of other equally egregious events, ”the opposition says.

The Pechersk District Court of Kiev on October 12 extended Medvedchuk's round-the-clock house arrest until December 7.

The politician, commenting on the court's decision, again called the prosecution against him illegal, and all the criminal cases - fabricated.

The Kremlin, in turn, said that in this way the current Ukrainian government is settling scores with political competitors.

“We said from the very beginning: everything that happens to Medvedchuk is nothing more than settling political scores with a political rival, which until recently was very rapidly strengthening its political positions in the country,” Dmitry Peskov noted.

At the same time, the press secretary of the Russian president added that Moscow can hardly help Medvedchuk, who is a citizen of Ukraine.

“But we condemn, we cannot approve.

And this is how we treat this as attempts to settle political scores with a competitor, ”Peskov emphasized.

• Viktor Medvedchuk at a meeting of the Pechersk District Court of Kiev

• RIA News

An RT source in the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers said that proposals to send Medvedchuk to Russia through an exchange indicate that Zelensky is afraid of his popularity.

“Closed polls show that the ratings of the pro-Russian forces are growing, and this scares him.

Therefore, sending him outside of Ukraine, and even exchanging him for several “heroes”, is an ideal option, "said the interlocutor of RT.

Unlawful methods

An RT source in the Servant of the People party said that Zelensky's proposal suggests that the President of Ukraine has forgotten about the rule of law.

“Zelensky believes that it is possible to resolve issues on a call, and now - just arrange an exchange.

As far as I know, Medvedchuk's guilt has not been proven and the country's leadership has no right to send him to Russia, ”the representative of the Servant of the People stressed.

In turn, political scientist Alexander Dudchak noted that Zelensky's statement about Russian citizenship as a condition for exchange is strange.

“If they raise the lists of those who have been changed since 2014, who were extradited to the LPR and DPR, they will find out that they gave away citizens of Ukraine, people with Ukrainian passports, and this did not interfere with the exchange of people before.

So now it looks kind of silly.

They have been imposing sanctions on their citizens for a long time, imposing sanctions on their enterprises, "the political scientist emphasized in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, Zelensky mentioned Russian citizenship in order to convince citizens that Medvedchuk is a traitor to his homeland.

In an interview with RT, a leading researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, Oleg Nemensky, noted that Zelensky's words about the exchange of Medvedchuk are confirmation that the latter has become "a political hostage of the current government."

“Moreover, Zelensky does not hide this, and according to his previous statements, it was possible to draw an unambiguous conclusion about the political nature of the persecution.

Moreover, it is worth questioning Zelensky's words that Ukraine cannot exchange its citizens for its citizens, since Ukraine has repeatedly conducted exchanges of its citizens for its citizens - I'm talking about the so-called exchanges of prisoners of war and other detained persons captured as a result of the conflict in Donbass, ”the expert emphasized.

At the same time, such exchanges took place both during the administration of Petro Poroshenko and during the presidency of Zelensky himself, Oleg Nemensky recalled.

“Ukraine has shown many times that it is actually not a state, but a political gang, where the citizenship of a person actually means nothing.

On the other hand, in Zelensky's words, one can hear a kind of proposal to Moscow: "Give Medvedchuk Russian citizenship - and then we will deprive him of his Ukrainian citizenship and give him over to Moscow."

Obviously, this would be a very good opportunity for Zelensky to get rid of Medvedchuk's presence in the country, perhaps not only from him, but also from several people close to him, ”the political scientist explained.

At the same time, Zelensky does not realize that Russia cannot act in a non-legal manner, added Oleg Nemensky.

“It is clear that such a move is impossible.

One gets the feeling that Zelensky is feeling driven into a dead end.

His actions are absolutely illegal ... This once again demonstrates both to the Ukrainians themselves and to the whole world that Ukraine as a state is a failed state and that even the head of this state does not consider it necessary to observe the laws and even somehow reckon with the legal norms adopted in all civilized countries, ”the expert concluded.