“Schemes”: Former MP Svyatash, whom Ukraine wants to extradite, was left under arrest in Sweden

A court in Sweden has remanded in custody former MP from the “Party of Regions” and “Renaissance” Dmytro Svyatash, who was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison for justifying Russiaʼs war against Ukraine and fraud worth UAH 2.2 billion. This was done as part of his extradition procedure at the request of Ukraine.

This is stated in the minutes of the court session from November 5, reports the "Schemes" project (Radio Liberty).

During the hearing, Svyatash denied suspicions of committing crimes in Ukraine and asked to cancel the arrest. His lawyer also stated that the former MP opposes extradition to Ukraine and wants to return to Russia.

The court decided to keep Svyatash under extradition arrest. This decision cannot be appealed, but he can ask the court to reconsider the arrest within three weeks.

Ukraine is seeking Svyatashʼs extradition. The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office has already completed the preparation of materials for his extradition, and the Ukrainian side has sent them to Sweden. On October 27, the Swedish media outlet Expressen reported that the former MP was detained at a Stevie Wonder concert in Stockholm.

• Svyatash holds Ukrainian and Russian passports. He is wanted in Ukraine. In November 2023, President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against him. And in May of the same year, SBU declared the suspicion to Svyatash of treason under martial law.

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