British court rejects Ukraine's extradition request for MP Dmytruk

According to Ukrinform, Business Wire stated this in an article, citing the law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, which serves as an international adviser to Dmytruk and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

Referring to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the judge pointed to alleged "torture" that Dmytruk claims he suffered at the hands of the Security Service of Ukraine in March 2022 as the reason why his extradition would disproportionately interfere with his right to respect for private and family life.

Amsterdam & Partners LLP stated that the alleged persecution of Dmytruk in Ukraine occurred "in the context of his fierce advocacy for the UOC, of which he serves as a subdeacon, and which the Zelensky administration is seeking to outlaw over its historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, despite the UOC’s strong support for Ukraine and material opposition to the Russian invasion."

Ukraine now has 14 days to announce whether it plans to appeal the court's ruling.

As Ukrinform previously reported, in August last year TikTok blocked the channel of wanted MP Artem Dmytruk, who had been spreading narratives aligned with Russian propaganda.

In the summer of 2024, the State Bureau of Investigation (Ukraine) placed a sitting member of parliament suspected of attacking citizens on the international wanted list. The agency did not initially name the individual, but the released photo showed Artem Dmytruk. Prior to that, the bureau had requested a notice through Interpol.

He had been expelled from the parliamentary faction of Servant of the People in November 2021.

In February 2024, Dmytruk posted bail for Pavlo Muzychuk, a hierodeacon of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, who had been detained by the Security Service of Ukraine on suspicion of justifying and recognizing as legitimate Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

On August 25, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported that a sitting member of parliament had been formally notified of suspicion for attacks on a law enforcement officer and a serviceman. According to media reports, this referred to Artem Dmytruk.

Ukrinform photos can be purchased here