Kyiv's Pechersky district court has ruled to seize Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Sharij's real estate and bank accounts.
He announced this on Telegram on June 2.
According to him, he has not been living in Ukraine for 10 years and allegedly has not been involved in financial or economic activity in the country. In this regard, his assets in Spain, Russia and Canada were frozen.
Read alsoLithuania declares controversial Ukrainian blogger Sharij persona non grata – media
As was earlier reported, Lithuania recently annulled all refugee status documents for Sharij, who is facing treason charges in Ukraine, and declared him persona non grata. Sharij has already appealed against Lithuania's decision on his refugee status.
A law-enforcement source of the Ukrayinska Pravda media outlet also confirmed the seizure of Sharij's assets.
What is more, Censor.net editor Yuriy Butusov shared a list of the seized property in a Facebook post on June 2. According to him, these are a villa and housing real estate in Tarragona, Spain, as well as bank accounts with Spain-based CaixaBank, Russia-based Raiffeisen Bank, and East-West United Bank S.A. (Luxembourg). The court also ruled on temporary access to Sharij belongings and documents, which constitute banking secrets, at HSBC Bank Canada.
However, the press service of Ukraine's SBU Security Service said in a comment for the Ukrayinska Pravda that the information is confidential as a pretrial investigation is under way and it should not be disclosed.
"This information is confidential over the pretrial investigation and it is not subject to disclosure until the execution of the court's rulings," the SBU said.
Sharij case
- On February 16, 2021, the SBU Security Service of Ukraine said it had put forward criminal charges against Sharij. The charges were brought under the two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – Part 1 of Article 111 (high treason) and Part 1 of Article 161 (violation of equality of citizens depending on their race, nationality, religious beliefs, disability, or other grounds). Investigators say he illegally acted to the detriment of Ukraine's national security in the media domain and in favor of foreign actors.
- On February 25, 2021, the SBU put Sharij on the wanted list.
- On March 1, 2021, the SBU notified the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office that false information had been provided during registration renewal for the Party of Sharij.
- On March 11, 2021, Ukraine's Justice Ministry lodged a lawsuit with Kyiv's District Administrative Court to outlaw the Party of Sharij. On April 6, 2021, the court held its first hearing on this case, during which the lawyer announced disqualification for the judge.
- The party, in turn, filed a counterclaim with Kyiv's District Administrative Court against the SBU Main Directorate in the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region. The plaintiff asked the court to declare illegal the actions of the Directorate, which provided with the Justice Ministry with documents proving violation by the Party of Sharij of Ukrainian legislation.
