British court does not allow fugitive "Servant of People" Dmytruk to be extradited to Ukraine
Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London has rejected Ukraine’s request to extradite MP Artem Dmytruk. The judge cited Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, stating that extraditing the lawmaker could disproportionately affect his right to respect for private and family life.
Censor.NET reports this with reference to the Business Wire platform.
At a hearing on Wednesday, Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London rejected the Ukrainian government’s request to extradite wanted MP Artem Dmytruk of the Restoration of Ukraine group, who was elected to the Verkhovna Rada on the Servant of the People party list.
"Citing Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the judge named the torture of Mr Dmytruk by the Security Service of Ukraine in March 2022 as the reason why his extradition would disproportionately affect his right to respect for private and family life," the platform reported.
It is emphasized that the prosecution of Dmytruk in Ukraine occurred "in the context of his fierce support" for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), of which he is a subdeacon, and that Dmytruk was the only member of parliament who spoke in the legislative chamber in August 2024 against law No. 3894, which creates the legal basis for a complete ban on the UOC. The MP later traveled to Moldova and then to the United Kingdom seeking protection.
"Mr Dmytruk not only condemned the Russian invasion, but also actively took up arms in March 2022 when he formed a territorial defense unit to defend his city from Russia. This did not prevent the Zelenskyy administration from seeking the forced return of Mr Dmytruk on clearly fabricated charges," said Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP.
Ukraine now has 14 days to announce whether it plans to appeal the ruling.
Reaction of the Prosecutor General’s Office
As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office stated: "It is important that the court refused extradition on only one argument – the application of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to respect for private and family life). At the same time, the court did not establish any signs of political or religious persecution and accepted other key arguments of the Ukrainian side.
We are currently jointly analyzing the decision of the court of first instance with our British partners regarding the possibility of appealing it."
Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm headquartered in London and Washington. According to Business Wire, it serves as an adviser to Dmytruk and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).
The escape of Artem Dmytruk
On Sunday, 25 August, the media reported that MP Artem Dmytruk, elected from the Servant of the People party (now unaffiliated), who defended the UOC-MP in Ukraine, had illegally left the country.
On the same day, Dmytruk was served a notice of suspicion for the attacks on a law enforcement officer and a soldier.
Law enforcers have opened a criminal investigation into the possible illegal crossing of the state border by MP Artem Dmytruk.
The SBI stated that the fact of Dmytruk's illegal border crossing had been established.
The Verkhovna Rada did not send MP Artem Dmytruk abroad.
Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Stefanchuk said that Dmytruk would be deprived of his mandate following the results of the investigation.
On 29 August 2024, Dmytruk was put on the international wanted list.
The court imposed a preventive measure in absentia on the MP in the form of detention without bail.
According to media reports, Artem Dmytruk was helped to flee Ukraine by Volodymyr Krokhmal, an assistant to MP Suto Mamoyan.
The Prosecutor General's Office is preparing materials for the extradition of the fugitive 'servant of the people' Dmytruk.
