Fugitive MP Dmytruk expelled from the Verkhovna Rada Committee
7 October 2024 19:49
People’s Deputy Artem Dmytruk is being prepared to be expelled from the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to informationpublished by the NGO “Golka”.
The NGO published a photo of the relevant resolution of the Verkhovna Rada. The author of the draft resolution is the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia.
At the same time, they want to remove MP Andrii Odarchenko, who fled Ukraine, from the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy.
MP Dmytruk expelled from the Verkhovna Rada Committee: what preceded it
on 7 October, MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote in his Telegram channel reported in his Telegram channel that Artem Dmytruk, who had gone abroad and is a suspect in a number of cases in Ukraine, had participated in a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee via video link and even voted.
What is known about the case of Artem Dmytruk
on 25 August 2024, the Prosecutor General’s Office officially announced that MP Artem Dmytruk had been served with a notice of suspicion on charges of assaulting a law enforcement officer and a military officer.
The suspicion was served under two articles:
- ч. 1 of Art. 296 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – gross violation of public order on the grounds of clear disrespect for society, accompanied by particular audacity.
- ч. 1 Art. 122 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: intentional infliction of moderate bodily harm.
According to the investigation, the suspect, while in Odesa, attacked a law enforcement officer while performing his official duties. In doing so, the MP intentionally inflicted bodily harm on the law enforcement officer and tried to steal the law enforcement officer’s weapon.
And in Kyiv, during a dispute with a military officer, Dmytruk hit him several times.
Commenting on the Prosecutor General’s Office’s report, Dmytruk himself said in his Telegram:
“No one handed me any suspicions. And all these cases are a completely falsified and invented story.”
On the same day, according to Glavred, the MP was spotted at the Stefan Voda police station. He was allegedly writing a statement about illegal border crossing in the presence of an investigator. This is an article that allows for refugee status.
The Prosecutor General’s Office responded promptly and opened a criminal investigation into Dmytruk’s possible illegal border crossing. SBI investigators conducted a series of searches and interrogations to find out how the MP crossed the border and who helped him.
At the same time, Dmytruk himself began to claim on his Telegram channel that his family, who were in Europe, had been kidnapped.
“They tried to kidnap my family! My mother, wife and two young children were kidnapped from a hotel in Europe yesterday. After the first unsuccessful attempt and the measures we took, they tried again at the airport! Thank God, good people helped us, they engaged a security company that worked perfectly!” the fugitive MP wrote.
Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigation has already officially stated that Artem Dmytruk illegally crossed the state border in Odesa region and travelled to Moldova. The media even wrote about the details of this incident. According to journalists, Dmytruk crossed the border of Moldova on foot through the Palanca checkpoint.
After that, he asked for protection and was granted temporary asylum while his case was being considered. From the police station, Dmytruk immediately went to Chisinau. At that time, Moldovan law enforcement officers had already received a request from Ukraine to detain the MP. Since the request had no legal basis (a court decision or a suspicion, which was announced to the MP only the next day), Dmytruk was able to board a plane and leave Moldova. According to sources cited by the media, he flew to Rome and then to London.
However, later it turned out that Dmytruk was first taken from Kyiv to Odesa region. There he changed cars. After that, the MP was taken to the border. Dmytruk illegally crossed the border on foot near the Pavlivka checkpoint, thus entering the so-called Transnistria
on 29 August, the Prosecutor General’s Office put MP Artem Dmytruk on the wanted list. On the same day, the Pechersk Court of Kyiv imposed a preventive measure in the form of detention on him in absentia. It will be applied when Dmytruk is returned to Ukraine.
