Russia-linked businessman litigates in Ukraine from Russia for right to be lawyer

Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukrainian businessman and pro-Russian politician with family ties to Vladimir Putin, who had been banned from legal practice in Ukraine, has filed a lawsuit to reclaim this right. Medvedchuk was one of the leaders of the banned OPZZh (Opposition Platform – For Life) Ukrainian political party; he is accused of treason in Ukraine and returned to Russia during one of the prisoners of war swaps.

Source: the Rukh CHESNO (Moving HONESTLY) website, with reference to lawyer Roman Tytykalo

Details: Medvedchuk appealed the ruling of the disciplinary chamber of the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar (QDCB) of Kyiv Oblast. He is represented by lawyer Oleksii Kalinnikov.

In May, the disciplinary chamber of QDCB of Kyiv Oblast approved the complaint of lawyers Roman Tytykalo and Illia Kostin and stripped Medvedchuk of his right to legal practice.

Tytykalo remarked that the Kyiv District Administrative Court sometimes does not initiate a proceeding in regular cases, but in this case, the process was very operative.

Quote by Tytykalo: "The lawsuit has no perspective since there is no ground for satisfying it.

There are two possible scenarios. Taking into account the fact that Medvedchuk has connections in legal, law enforcement and bar communities, I do not exclude that he may attempt to achieve the court ruling in his favour. But it is unlikely.

On the other hand, I suspect that it may be a PR not for the Ukrainian but for the Russian audience.

In the explanations Medvedchuk submitted to QDCB, he listed the alleged political persecution and alleged repressions for his political views as the motive for filing a complaint and initiating a disciplinary proceeding."

Details: Lawyer Oleksii Kalinnikov who represents the interests of Medvedchuk teaches law in the Higher School of Bar of the National Association of Bar of Ukraine, which has been chaired by Medvedchuk's associate Lidia Izovitova for many years.

Earlier Kalinnikov represented another fugitive traitor, former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka who tried to return valuables, which had been handed over to the National Art Museum of Ukraine, from his house in the settlement of Horenychi in Kyiv Oblast.

In addition to this, Kalinnikov represented the interests of the Novyi Svit publishing house, which published several books by Viktor Yanukovych, former Ukrainian President who committed a high treason.

Background:

• In 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, stated that he revoked the Ukrainian citizenship of Viktor Medvedchuk.
• The Verkhovna Rada (the Supreme Council) of Ukraine stripped Medvedchuk of his parliamentary immunity and changed the Criminal Code of Ukraine to exchange Medvedchuk for the defenders of the city of Mariupol.
• Medvedchuk, whose daughter is a goddaughter of Putin, and who was one of the leaders of the OPZZh political party, was exchanged for captured soldiers during one of PoW swaps and sent to Russia.
• The disciplinary chamber of QDCB of Kyiv Oblast stripped Medvedchuk of his right to legal practice.
• In Soviet times, Medvedchuk was a lawyer of  Ukrainian poet Vasyl Stus; he is considered guilty of Stus being unjustly convicted and then dying in exile.

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