Ukrainian court places Putin’s friend Medvedchuk under house arrest
The Pechersky District Court in Kyiv placed under house arrest Ukrainian politician and leader of the Opposition Platform for Life party Viktor Medvedchuk, reported the news website Graty.
The prosecution demanded Medvedchuk's arrest. The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine was ready to release Medvedchuk on a 300-million-hryvnia bail (about $10 million). The politician said that he does not have such money.
"I will not be able to pay this money, because me and my wife were subjected to illegal sanctions by the decision of the National Security Council, which blocked all accounts from which it is possible to transfer this money, as well as accounts from which money could be withdrawn to pay this bail," the MP said.
On May 11, Medvedchuk became a defendant in a criminal case of treason and attempted theft of national resources in Crimea. The same charges were brought against the MP Taras Kozak. Medvedchuk's house in Kyiv was raided by police.
Medvedchuk is a Ukrainian oligarch and one of the most influential pro-Russian politicians in the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin is the godfather of his daughter.
Ukraine's Attorney General Irina Venediktova has approved an indictment for treason and attempted theft of national resources in Crimea against Viktor Medvedchuk Taras Kozak.
"Today, I put my signature on indictments against two MPs of the Ukrainian parliament. We, together with the colleagues from law enforcement agencies, conducted a lot of investigative actions, received many expert opinions, during the pre-trial investigation interrogated valuable witnesses. The work was carried out effectively, we did everything possible to keep the information closed," Venediktova wrote on Facebook.
In early April, Ukrainian MP Oleksii Goncharenko reported that Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak were being investigated for treason.
In February, the Ukrainian authorities imposed three years of sanctions on Medvedchuk and his wife Oksana Marchenko, which also involve the seizure of their assets.
The Ukrainian authorities also imposed sanctions against Kozak and shut down his TV channels 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK. Media reported that Kozak and Medvedchuk have joint business interests.