The European Court of Justice located in Luxembourg has ruled on the illegality of the last wave of sanctions imposed on non-aligned Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Serhiy Klyuyev by the EU Council in 2017, the Kyiv-based Ukrayinska Pravda edition has reported, citing the press service of the court.
The decision was taken pursuant to a complaint filed by Serhiy Klyuyev in 2015 from the wave of sanctions lasting until March 2016. During review of a complaint based on documents from new sanctions, including the most recent, introduced in March 2017. However, grounds for the sanctions remained the same: Klyuyev remained under sanctions based on evidence from Kyiv about “misuse of public funds.”
In its decision, the court noted that the European Council, introducing sanctions, should have checked grounds for accusations against those named and if there were grounds for “doubting the authenticity of evidence,” which Ukraine provide the EU, which did not take into account Klyuyev’s objections.
As earlier reported, the European Council decided in March 2014 to freeze the funds and economic resources of people who “were responsible for the misappropriation of Ukrainian state funds or for abuse of office causing a loss to Ukrainian public funds.” The measure was subsequently extended every year.
The sanctions targeted 15 people, including former Prime Ministers Mykola Azarov and Serhiy Arbuzov and head of Yanukovych’s presidential administration, Andriy Klyuyev, Serhiy Klyuyev’s brother.
Yanukovych has denied misappropriating Ukraine’s public funds.
