Foreign media outlets have written more than 70,000 publications in six months about the illegal prosecution by President Volodymyr Zelensky of the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, People’s Deputy Viktor Medvedchuk. 84% of all publications condemn repressions against the opposition.

This week, the media paid attention to all aspects of pressure on the opposition in Ukraine. In particular, they recalled Viktor Medvedchuk’s lawsuit against the ECHR, wrote about the possible consequences of this case for Ukraine and the responsibility for those involved, and also covered another act of intimidation of the «Opposition Platform-For Life» by radicals.

Foreign publications widely cover the filing of a claim to the European Court of Human Rights on the illegal detention of Viktor Medvedchuk under house arrest. So, the publication Teller Report in his article, he quotes Renat Kuzmin, a people’s deputy from the Opposition Platform — For Life.

«A positive decision of the European Court of Human Rights in favor of Medvedchuk may become the basis for the resignation of the Prosecutor General and the beginning of the impeachment of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky,» the newspaper writes.

Another English-language publication Pledge Times in its publication, it noted that Medvedchuk’s claim to the ECHR may be considered in the near future.

«Medvedchuk complained to the ECHR in June. He claims that his criminal case is politically motivated and that the authorities violate his right to a fair trial and personal security, » the publication says.

In many publications, journalists admit the fact of falsification of the trial against Viktor Medvedchuk. In addition, the international media believe that the case against the opposition leader will bring Ukraine only negative consequences.

«Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who is close to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, is considered the main opponent and even rival of President Vladimir Zelensky… At the same time, the Russian leader does not want to meet with Zelensky until he refuses to prosecute Medvedchuk. In addition, observers claim that Moscow has suspended any negotiations with Kiev until the situation with Medvedchuk is resolved. This may have negative consequences for the peaceful settlement in the Donbas. Many experts urge Zelensky not to jeopardize the peace talks in the Donbas because of personal reasons for the war with Medvedchuk, » writes the Luxembourg Herald.

Journalists of the Russian newspaper Vesti remind how Vladimir Putin paid attention to the repressions against the opposition leader.

«There are a lot of millions of people in Ukraine who want to restore relations with Russia. I’m sure it’s millions of people. And there are political forces that are in favor of this normalization. But, apparently, they are not given any chances to realize their political plans, they are simply removed from the political scene in an unsystematic, illegal way. Someone is simply killed on the street, and after that no one is looking for criminals. Or they burn people alive, as it was during the tragic events in Odessa. National mass media are being shut down, put under house arrest, as is happening now with (Viktor-ed.) Medvedchuk. At the same time, the authorities in Ukraine make absolutely illegal decisions even outside the scope of their competence. In other words, these forces are not given any chances for legal political work,» the publication quotes the President of the Russian Federation.

The British news agency Reuters quotes Viktor Medvedchuk in its article, where he calls the sanctions against him «another step for Ukraine towards dictatorship».

And the Financial Times concludes in its article that Vladimir Zelensky is shutting down TV channels and illegally harassing Viktor Medvedchuk in order to ingratiate himself with the White House in Washington.

«The onslaught on Medvedchuk was partly done to curry favor with the Biden administration… But former comedian Zelenskiy was elected on a promise to «break the system» of state capture by several oligarchs, but has so far failed to prove his willingness to do so.

In addition, the Chinese edition of China Daily reminded that Viktor Medvedchuk, together with the Opposition Platform — For Life, tried to get answers from the United States regarding the activities of American biolabs in Ukraine.

«In 2020, Ukrainian lawmakers issued a statement in connection with the opening of fifteen US military biological laboratories in Ukraine. In their report, Medvedchuk and Kuzmin recalled outbreaks of dangerous infectious diseases in Ukraine in recent years, which, in their opinion, may be related to the activities of US laboratories, » the publication noted.

The largest daily newspaper in Germany, Süddeutsche Zeitung, talks about Vladimir Zelensky’s double standards in its article. On the one hand, it closes TV channels and imposes sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk and his entourage, and on the other, it allows oligarchs to flourish in Ukraine.

«According to analysts, Zelensky, first of all, wanted to eliminate a political competitor. Medvedchuk’s pro — Life opposition Platform is represented by 44 MPs in parliament, and according to recent polls, it is second only to Zelensky’s Servant of the People party… but other oligarchs can sleep in peace, «the article says.

The oldest French daily newspaper Agora Vox He notes that the evidence in the Medvedchuk case is too weak, and the illegal prosecution only increases the opposition’s ratings.

«In general, the first round of the confrontation was in favor of Viktor Medvedchuk. The authorities will definitely prepare a counterattack. But while the cases fabricated by the police are so weak, and sometimes even anecdotal, that it is difficult to believe in any success… In the meantime, against the background of mass discontent with the authorities, the prosecution of Medvedchuk rather increases his rating, » writes Agora Vox.

News Agency Regnum with reference to political expert Valeria Litvinova, he writes that the judges in the Medvedchuk case will definitely not remain judges after the change of power, they will either have to go to prison or flee abroad, like their predecessors.

«Now I mean Inna Otrosh and Anton Chernushenko, former heads of the Pechersk District Court of Kiev and the Kiev Court of Appeal, former judge of the Pechersk District Court of Kiev Rodion Kireev and, of course, the former head of the Dnipro district Court of the capital Mykola Chaus … All of the above are united by one fact of their biography — they fled Ukraine in disgrace when they realized that the «friendly» government is not eternal and For each of them, the scheme of receiving kickbacks for the necessary decisions seemed to be a win-win, exactly until the moment when the realization came, that you will still have to answer for criminal decisions according to the law, » the article says.

Political scientist Vladimir Jaralla in the publication of the Internet resource Federal News Agency  saw «a sign of change in the claims of a senator from France to the repressions in Ukraine.»

In particular, he drew attention to the statement of French Senator Nathalie Goulet in the direction of the country’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian about the violation of human rights in Ukraine.

«The French politician reminded the Foreign Ministry of the illegal detention of Viktor Medvedchuk under house arrest, as well as the blocking of a number of TV channels without proper investigation. Goulet would like to know what measures the Minister intends to take to promote human rights and civil liberties in Ukraine. Earlier, she asked the French Foreign Ministry to comment on the growth of neo-Nazi sentiment in Kiev, » the publication noted.

Radical sentiments in Ukraine also remain at the epicenter of foreign media attention. A number of Internet resources covered the rally outside the office of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, which was organized by ultra-right young people.

«Extremists and radicals, using smoke bombs, flares and explosive packages, staged an action of intimidation and pressure on the only political force in the country that fights against all manifestations of neo-Nazism and fascism in Ukraine,» the newspaper Izvestiya writes.  

«Such a reaction of national radicals became possible only with the complicity of the authorities-personally, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and the law enforcement system, in particular the Security Service of Ukraine, which conducts systematic repression of the Opposition Platform-For Life party,» the newspaper Sight  notes. 

«The attackers directly appealed to the SBU, demanding to ban our political force and carry out repressions against the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform-For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk,» the publication Russian Watch says. . 

«On Zelensky’s instructions, the SBU turned into a criminal group, committed criminal offenses not only against the anti-fascist movement «Patriots-For Life», but against all objectionable and sane people, » Regnum said. 

«The opposition party is convinced that the action under the walls of their office is revenge on the part of the SBU for the witness whom the OPP took under protection, whom the punitive system tried to intimidate and, it is possible, even destroy,» the newspaper Free Press writes. . 

The case against Viktor Medvedchuk, chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, is an attempt by the authorities to distract voters ‘ attention from real problems in the economy and social sphere. This is the opinion of more than 41 percent of Ukrainians surveyed by the international research center BURI-Ukraine from Belgium from July 30 to August 2 this year.

For the majority of Ukrainians, a fair outcome in the case of Viktor Medvedchuk would be a declaration of his innocence, acquittal and restoration of all rights. In the same BURI study, this answer was chosen by almost 59% of respondents.

Recall that on February 2, President Vladimir Zelensky signed decree on the application of sanctions against TV channels «112 Ukraine«, NEWSONE and ZIK. According to the decree, which came into force from the moment of signing, sanctions were applied to TV channels for five years. This provides for blocking the broadcasting of all three TV channels.

On February 26, journalists of TV channels illegally closed by President Volodymyr Zelensky united and created a new TV channel — «Перший Незалежний». The founders of the new media were a group of journalists who previously worked for the channels «112 Ukraine«, NEWSONE and ZIK. But just an hour after the broadcast started the authorities illegally disconnected the TV channel from the air.

On February 20, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree that put into effect decision of the National Security and Defense Council impose sanctions against 8 people — among them the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform — For Life party Viktor Medvedchuk and his wife Oksana Marchenko.

May 13 Pechersk Court of Kyiv chose a preventive measure Chairman of the political Council of the OPFL party Viktor Medvedchuk. On May 21, the Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld the round-the-clock house arrest for the MP. On July 9, the court extended Viktor Medvedchuk’s house arrest until September 7. Immediately after the start of the meeting, the lawyers of the OPPJ leader announced the recusal of the judge to Sergey Vovka. The fact is that Vovk decided to consider the issue of extending the terms of the pre-trial investigation without the defense. But in the end, the court rejected the request for recusal of the judge and prosecutor.

In OPFL did you respond this legal outrage was answered by the statement that such actions of the authorities are a frank and cynical political reprisal against an opposition politician who, by his principled position, denounces the unprofessionalism, venality and anti-national nature of the government.

Commenting on the situation, Viktor Medvedchuk emphasized It is noted that his lawyers are fully prepared for the process of appealing the measure of restraint and they have evidence that refutes the prosecution’s accusation and proves the illegality of applying house arrest to him.

Thus, the defense filed an appeal against the decision of the Pechersk District Court of Kiev to extend the measure of restraint of the politician. However On July 30, the Kiev Court of Appeal rejected it. despite the defeat of all the arguments of the prosecution.

Leading European politicians, international and Ukrainian experts and world media Zelensky’s decree was criticized about the termination of TV channels ‘ operation «112 Ukraine«, NEWSONE and ZIK.

A source: Lead