The Shevchenkivsky district court of Kyiv has decided to terminate the international and national search for Ihor Huzhva, the editor-in-chief of the Internet ezine Strana.UA, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine told Interfax-Ukraine.
“By the decision of the court, the search for Huzhva has been canceled,” the press service told the agency, noting that this decision was connected with establishing his location and obtaining political asylum in Austria.
As earlier reported, Huzhva was arrested in Kyiv on June 22, 2017. According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, Huzhva demanded $10,000 in exchange for not publishing compromising materials against an incumbent politician.
On June 23, Dmytro Linko, a Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Radical Party faction, confirmed that Huzhva had demanded money from him.
Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office reported that Huzhva and his mediator had been detained on suspicion of large-scale extortion under Part 3, Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Huzhva was arrested for two months with an option to post Hr 544,000 bail. The bail was later posted, and he left the pretrial detention center.
The editorial board was searched several times.
On Oct. 1, 2018 Huzhva said that the Austrian authorities gave him political asylum.
