Ex-MP Svyatash sentenced in absentia to 12 years

A people's deputy of the IV-VIII convocations was sentenced to 12 years in prison in absentia for justifying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and fraud in the amount of UAH 2.2 billion, the press service of the Kiev City Prosecutor's office reported on Monday.

According to UNN sources, we are talking about Dmitry Svyatash.

Details

"The court announced the guilty verdict of a people's deputy of Ukraine of the IV-VIII convocations, who has been in the Russian Federation since 2019. He was found guilty of public appeals to change the borders of the territory of Ukraine, production and distribution of materials that justify armed aggression against Ukraine, as well as fraud with the subsequent legalization of illegally acquired property (Part 1 of Article 110, Part 2 of Article 436-2, part 4 of Article 190, part 3 of Article 27, Part 3, Part 4 of Article 358, part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the prosecutor's office said.

During the trial, as indicated, the prosecutor proved that "the former MP during 2022 posted messages on his Facebook page that contain narratives about the absence of armed aggression against Ukraine." "The politician also wrote about the legality of the occupation of the territory of Ukraine and called on residents of the temporarily occupied territory to agree to collaboration and cooperation with banks of the Russian Federation," the prosecutor's office said.

At the same time, according to the prosecutor's office, "during 2008-2014, the accused, being a beneficiary of a group of enterprises that were engaged in the assembly and sale of cars from the Russian Federation, under the guise of the financial crisis of 2008, deliberately organized actions for non-repayment of a previously received loan in one of the banking institutions in the amount of more than 50 million US dollars." "He pledged about 200 real estate objects and corporate rights to the bank. Subsequently, using deliberately forged documents, the politician re - registered the property to other business entities under his control, thus freeing this property from encumbrances," the department noted.

As a result, the company that bought out the bank's debts, as indicated, suffered damage in the amount of UAH 2.2 billion.

"According to the totality of evidence from the prosecution, the verdict of the Pechersk District Court of Kiev found the ex - MP guilty of the charge and sentenced him to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property," the prosecutor's office said.

The trial, as noted, took place in absentia in the absence of the accused, but with the participation of a defense lawyer under a contract with the accused. "In addition, taking into account the legalization of illegally acquired assets by the accused, the court also granted the relevant request of the prosecutor and applied the procedure of special confiscation to the state income to satisfy the victim's civil claim to illegally acquired property and corporate rights," the prosecutor's office said.