Switzerland will continue to block the assets of individuals connected to the fugitive Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, as the country’s Federal Supreme Court has rejected three appeals. This was reported by swissinfo.ch.
On Friday, June 13, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court announced that no frozen assets linked to Yanukovych can be released until a final decision is made in the confiscation case.
The Federal Administrative Court had previously dismissed three appeals regarding the freezing of accounts in 2024, and the appellants failed to succeed at the Federal Supreme Court.
The asset freezes on individuals politically connected to Yanukovych were imposed by the Swiss Federal Council in 2022 and 2023 based on legislation regulating the handling of illegally acquired assets of foreign politicians.
Criminal Investigations Against Yanukovych
In June, the State Bureau of Investigation completed the pre-trial investigation concerning Yanukovych and his bodyguard Kostyantyn Kozyar. The indictment, related to incitement to desertion and illegal crossing of the state border of Ukraine, was submitted to the court.
The Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court upheld the verdict in Yanukovych’s case on charges of treason and complicity in waging an aggressive war.
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv authorized the detention of Yanukovych in the case concerning the signing of the “Kharkiv Agreements” in 2010, when he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement to extend the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine in exchange for gas discounts.
In 2021, the High Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Viktor Yanukovych and his son in absentia during the investigation of the embezzlement case involving the “Mezhyhirya” residence.
Yanukovych left Ukraine in the winter of 2014 following the Revolution of Dignity. In January 2019, he was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison for treason and complicity in waging an aggressive war.