Shufrich’s term of detention extended by two months
13 March 2024 18:28
The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has extended the preventive measure in the form of detention for Ukrainian MP Nestor Shufrych for two months, Kommersant Ukrainsky 
citing the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The MP will remain in custody until at least 11 May.
In a comment to a Suspilne correspondent who was in the courtroom, the MP complained about the conditions of detention.
“I have been in physical conditions for six months, which were approved back in the 1930s, or at least during the time of the KGB. I believe that there is an encroachment on my constitutional rights in terms of freedom, there is an encroachment on my rights to perform the powers of a people’s deputy,”
– Shufrych said.
He is also convinced that his actions do not constitute the elements of the crimes he is charged with.
“I don’t understand how a person can be held liable for objective criticism of the authorities, let alone for criminal offences, let alone for treason. I believe that my prosecution is a paid-for case. I am accused of financing the overthrow of the constitutional order and financing the change of borders and territorial integrity by allegedly giving instructions to conclude a business contract for the protection of property that at the time belonged to one of our family members and was exclusively for security purposes. It was found that this agreement was concluded without the permission and consent of the owners. This contract was in force for 1.5 months and was cancelled,” Shufrych said.
He noted that these actions cannot be considered a crime because the agreement was concluded in 2016, and economic relations with the structures of the aggressor state or its official administrations became a crime in March 2022.
In September 2023, prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office accused Shufrych of treason. According to the investigation, he was tasked with coordinating Russian agents in Ukraine. In February 2024, the charge was added to the list of charges of financing the Rosgvardia in Crimea, whose units he hired to protect his property. Shufrich is being held without bail.
Nestor Shufrich
Nestor Shufrych is an MP from the OPFL party, which was banned in 2022. He is the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech. Former MP of many convocations, Minister of Emergencies of Ukraine (2006-2007, 2010), Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (2010-2012). He is an associate of Viktor Medvedchuk.
During his political career, he voiced a pro-Russian position and was a member of pro-Russian political parties: SDPU(o), the Party of Regions, and OPFL.
In 2013, he signed an appeal to the Polish Sejm from the Party of Regions and the Communist Party calling for “recognising the Volyn tragedy as genocide against the Polish population and condemning the criminal acts of Ukrainian nationalists”.
He was involved in many fights in parliament and on television.
In 2017, he was accused by the Prosecutor General of tax evasion of UAH 40 million.
In 2019, he was accused of participating in an illegal safari in Africa, during which he allegedly killed Red Book animals.
Since 2014, he has called the war in eastern Ukraine a “war between Ukrainians”.
At the beginning of the full-scale war, he was detained at a checkpoint in Kyiv when he tried to take a photo of it.
In 2019, he declared cash totalling UAH 137.48 million, including USD 2.45 million and EUR 2.3 million.
