16 April 2019, Tuesday, 12:30 185

Court Refuses To Initiate Extradition, Removes From Wanted List And Cancels In-Absentia Arrest Of Vlogger Sharii

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv has refused to initiate extradition, removed from the wanted list and cancelled the in-absentia arrest of video blogger, Anatolii Sharii, and returned his case for additional investigation to the prosecutor's office.

This follows from court records, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

In April 2019, the court considered the case opened against Sharii upon the fact of using firearm by Sharii in a conflict with a visitor at a MacDonald’s restaurant in Kyiv in May 2011.

Sharii then was accused of acute violation of public order accompanied with impudence and cynicism with the use of firearm (Section 4 of Article 296 of the Penal Code of Ukraine).

The said criminal case was received by the court on July 13, 2011 however, in February 2012 it was suspended in view of putting Sharii on the wanted list.

Besides, in 2012, the court ruled the in-absentia arrest of the video blogger.

In July 2013, the Ministry of Justice and Security of the Kingdom of the Netherlands informed Ukraine that Sharii had obtained the status of a refugee and could not be extradited to the Ukrainian law enforcers in compliance with the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and Directive of the European Union.

Besides, on February 27, 2014, Interpol withdrew Sharii from the international wanted list.

In May 2014, it was reported that Sharii also obtained the status of a political refugee in the Republic of Lithuania.

In May 2018, the police informed the court that the vlogger was still under criminal investigation.

Besides, the head of the Solomiyanskyi district police department of Kyiv asked the court to request the Justice Ministry to solve the issue of Sharii’s extradition.

In August 2018, the court resumed hearing the case suspended in 2012 at the request of Sharii's lawyer.

And now the court did not find any grounds to retain Sharii’s arrest.

As a result, the court ruled to return the case for additional investigation to the Kyiv city prosecutor's office and cancel the arrest removing Sharii from the wanted list.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the National Police has launched an investigation against the vlogger / ex-journalist, Anatolii Sharii, suspected of stirring up of interethnic hostility.

Sharii intends to sue President Petro Poroshenko in response to accusations of the vlogger’s work for Russia.