Court bans pro-Russian Socialist Party

The Eighth Administrative Court of Appeal in Lviv has banned the activities of the Socialist Party, which the National Security and Defense Council and the Ministry of Justice consider pro-Russian.

This was reported by the CHESNO movement.

The court decided to transfer the property of the party and all its branches to state ownership. The party can still appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

The court ruling, however, does not prevent the partyʼs politicians from creating new political forces.

"Politicians who led and were elected by these parties can create new parties and run again. We observed this after the banning of the Communist Party and after the disappearance of the Party of Regions. All collaborators and traitors must be brought to justice. Only after the court verdict can they go into politics again. It is in order for the name of each traitor-politician to be remembered by both law enforcement officers and voters that we keep the Register of Traitors. Law enforcement agencies and courts must do everything possible to bring them to justice, "said the movementʼs leader Vita Dumanska.

• The Socialist Party was founded in August 2014. It criticized the government, and spoke ambiguously about Russiaʼs aggression. Its leader, Leonid Kozhara, insisted on direct talks with the "administrative authorities" in Donbas.
• On March 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine had suspended the activities of a number of parties with ties to Russia during martial law. These parties include the Opposition Platform for Life and the Sharia Party. After that, the activities of the OPZZh were stopped in the Verkhovna Rada and in a number of city councils.
• On June 8, a court banned the Opposition Bloc party.