Brussels, 27/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 27 October, the General Court of the EU set aside the asset freeze imposed on Andriy Portnov, one-time adviser to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
In response to the Ukrainian crisis, the Council decided on 5 March 2014 to impose sanctions on Portnov on the grounds that he was a “person subject to criminal proceedings in Ukraine to investigate crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine”. Portnov raised an action in the General Court seeking cancellation of that decision and has just had his action upheld.
The Court is unhappy that the Council decided that Portnov was responsible for the misappropriation of state funds largely on the basis of a letter from the Public Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine. This letter, dated 3 March 2014, two days before the Council made the decision at issue, stated only that Portnov and other high-ranking officials would be investigated for misappropriation of public funds. Nothing more specific was stated. Thus, in its ruling, the Court made clear that, with regard to the actions of which Portnov was accused, there was nothing more than supposition.
The Court also notes that, where challenges are raised, it is for the Council to establish the validity of the grounds cited against the individual, and not the contrary. While, to be able to impose sanctions, the Council does not require the person to have been proved guilty, it must at least have information on the facts or behaviour specific to the charge. That was not the case in this particular instance and, worse still, in the Court's view, it is not certain that, at the time the Council acts at issue were adopted, criminal proceedings had been opened against the complainant, even at a very early preliminary investigation stage. The preliminary investigation in Ukraine was only recorded after the adoption of the Council acts and on the same day as they were published in the Official Journal of the EU. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)
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