Ukrainian prosecutors and courts have completed the necessary procedures to consider the extradition of former MP Dmytro Sviatash from Sweden.
“In Dmytro Sviatash’s case, the prosecution service and the courts, within the shortest possible timeframes, carried out all procedural actions within their remit that were necessary to ensure the possibility of his extradition from Sweden to Ukraine in all criminal proceedings,” the Office of the Prosecutor General reported.
A particular feature of this case was that the criminal proceedings against Dmytro Sviatash were at different stages of court consideration and before different courts. However, all necessary procedural issues were resolved within the shortest possible timeframes, creating the prerequisites for extradition in all criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors ensured the preparation and submission of all required materials, their proper оформление and translation, as well as the substantiation of the legal position on extradition. The work was carried out in parallel across all criminal proceedings.
To ensure proper handling of extradition matters in the criminal proceedings pending before the Kyiv Court of Appeal, prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General responsible for international co-operation were additionally included in the prosecutorial team.
The Kyiv Court of Appeal, while able to resolve the relevant issue without holding a court hearing, exercised its right to hold one with the participation of the parties. This made it possible to hear the positions of the participants directly and to provide additional safeguards for the observance of human rights, without affecting the speed of the procedure.
Vinnytsia City Court of Vinnytsia Region, within the framework of another criminal proceeding, also promptly considered the relevant issue and adopted the necessary procedural decision.
“It is fundamentally important that the prosecutors and both courts carried out their work virtually simultaneously, each within their own powers. This is precisely what made it possible to create all the necessary procedural prerequisites for approaching Sweden regarding the surrender of Dmytro Sviatash in all criminal proceedings, leaving none of them without attention,” the OPG noted.
They also recalled that this concerns a person accused of serious criminal offences, so it was important to ensure the possibility of his surrender in all criminal proceedings in which he is being held accountable.
To date, the prosecution service and the courts have carried out all actions within their remit to ensure Dmytro Sviatash’s extradition. NThe necessary court decisions have been adopted, the materials prepared, and the procedural prerequisites for considering the issue of his surrender in all criminal proceedings have been ensured.
The next stages of the procedure fall within the competence of the authorised bodies for international co-operation, including the Swedish side.
“For its part, the prosecution service has carried out all procedural actions within its remit and remains ready to further facilitate international co-operation within its competence. We count on constructive interaction among all parties involved, respect the powers of each of them, and are convinced that proper co-ordination will contribute to the effective consideration of the issue of Dmytro Sviatash’s surrender to Ukraine,” the statement said.
Who Is Sviatash
- Dmytro Sviatash was detained last week in Sweden. He is currently being held in a temporary detention centre of the Migration Agency in Mörsta.
- The former MP arrived in Sweden shortly beforehand. The detainee’s lawyer said Sviatash had come for a Stevie Wonder concert in Stockholm. Border police detained the former MP during passport control and barred him from entering. Sviatash holds Russian and Ukrainian citizenship; however, he presented a Ukrainian passport to border officers.
- In 2004, during Ukraine’s presidential election, he was an authorised representative of candidate Viktor Yanukovych.
- He voted for the “language” law that expanded the use of the Russian language. He voted for the диктаторські laws of 16 January 2014.
- From 2005 to 2014, he was a member of the “Party of Regions”.
- Sviatash fled Ukraine in 2019 and has lived in Russia since then.
- In 2022, the prosecution service transferred to the state assets belonging to former Party of Regions MP Dmytro Sviatash worth more than UAH 600 million.
- In the summer of 2024, a Ukrainian court sentenced Dmytro Sviatash in absentia to 12 years’ imprisonment for оправдання Russian aggression and fraud involving UAH 2.2 billion.
- In addition, since 2023, police have suspected him of high treason.