The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg has ruled that the
European Council was wrong to freeze the assets of five close associates of
ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
The ruling on January 28 passed by the EU's General Court concerns former
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov Azarov's son Oleksiy, ex-NBU governor
Serhiy Arbuzov, former Energy Minister Eduard Stavytsky, and brother of the
former head of presidential administration, businessman Serhiy Kliuyev.
According to the document posted on the official website of the Court of
Justice of the European Union, "a person cannot be treated as being
responsible for misappropriation of funds solely on the ground that he is the
subject of a preliminary investigation in a third country, without the Council
being aware of the matters alleged against that person in that
investigation."
Thus, in today's judgments, "the General Court upholds the actions
brought by the five Ukrainians and annuls the freezing of assets imposed on them
for the period from March 6 2014 to March 5, 2015."
The ruling can be appealed within two months before the European Court of
Justice.
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