Why EU countries refuse to extradite corrupt officials to Ukraine: Minister of Justice's comment

Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)

European Union countries’ courts refuse extradition of top corrupt officials to Ukraine for two reasons: detention conditions and war, says the Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

According to the minister, there were two points why courts refused extradition. The first is poor detention conditions because they “do not meet European standards.” In order for such standards to be even more similar, Ukraine needs to build as many new detention facilities as it already has.

And the second aspect is the war and the fact that not all detention facilities have shelters, Maliuska said.

“Our top corrupt officials’ lawyers appeal to the possibility of human rights violations after extradition, these are their key arguments and European courts take this into account,” the minister added.

To solve this problem, the Verkhovna Rada recently passed a special law several months ago. “I’d say it was a very difficult but necessary measure: those who will be extradited will be provided with special detention conditions to ensure the possibility of shelter use and compliance with European detention standards. We have already made several rooms for this purpose in various investigative isolators,” the minister said.

Maliuska expects that the number of such rooms will increase by mid-summer. “We hope that this will allow us to extradite a certain number of top officials who are currently abroad. They don’t like it at all, so this whole story is covered in criticism, but criticism comes from those who are wanted,” he added.

In early February, an Austrian court rejected Ukraine’s request for the extradition of former head of the National Bank Kyrylo Shevchenko, whom Kyiv accuses of embezzling 200 million hryvnias. The reason for the refusal was the war in Ukraine.

Earlier, a French court refused to extradite former MP and businessman Kostiantyn Zhevaho to Ukraine, whom Kyiv accuses of embezzling 100 million hryvnias. The reason was the war and the state of Ukraine’s judicial system.