السويد تعتقل_MEMBER cookies_required former Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Sviatash and denies him entry
Detained at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, former Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Sviatash was refused entry to Sweden and placed in custody. His lawyer says the decision was politically motivated and that Sviatash opposes extradition to Ukraine, where he was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison.
أبرز النقاط
- Swedish border police detained Dmytro Sviatash at Stockholm Arlanda Airport on 22 October.
- Sviatash was refused entry to Sweden and held in a temporary detention centre in Märsta.
- He came to Sweden to attend a Stevie Wonder concert in Stockholm.
- Swedish authorities cited Poland's Schengen-wide re-entry ban as the official reason for the refusal.
- Ukrainian authorities said in May 2023 that Sviatash was suspected of state treason.
- A Ukrainian court sentenced him in absentia in summer 2024 to 12 years in prison for justifying Russia's armed aggression and fraud involving 2.2 billion hryvnias.
- His lawyer says Sviatash opposes extradition to Ukraine and is ready to return to Russia by private plane.
لماذا يهمّ ذلك
The detention has created a new legal dispute over whether Sviatash can be extradited to Ukraine. It may affect both the Ukrainian criminal proceedings and enforcement of the conviction, which remains under appeal, while the stated legal basis for the entry ban is disputed by his defence.
ماذا حدث
Former Ukrainian lawmaker Dmytro Sviatash was detained by Swedish border police at Stockholm Arlanda Airport on 22 October during a passport check. He had travelled to attend a Stevie Wonder concert in Stockholm and presented an Ukrainian passport, although he also holds Russian citizenship. Swedish authorities refused him entry and placed him in custody at a temporary detention centre in Märsta. The official reason was a Polish re-entry ban recorded in the shared database of Schengen countries. A Swedish migration court declined to hold an oral hearing and ordered his defence to submit final written explanations by 28 October before deciding the case.
كيف تصفه المصادر الأوكرانية
Ukrainian reporting focuses on Sviatash's status as a former lawmaker, his conviction in absentia, the state-treason suspicion and his opposition to extradition. It also notes his Ukrainian and Russian citizenship, his departure for Russia in 2019 and the continued domestic wanted status asserted by Ukrainian authorities.
أين تختلف الروايات
Swedish authorities officially attributed the entry refusal to Poland's Schengen-wide re-entry ban, while Sviatash's lawyer described the decision as politically motivated. Reports also differ over his Interpol status: some state that Interpol withdrew its notice after his lawyers' challenge, while Ukrainian authorities continued to describe him as wanted.
الخلفية
Sviatash served in Ukraine's parliament from 2002 to 2019, representing the Party of Regions and, in the eighth convocation, the Party of Revival. He left Ukraine for Russia in 2019 and was later placed on wanted lists. In summer 2024, a Ukrainian court sentenced him in absentia to 12 years in prison for justifying Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine and fraud involving 2.2 billion hryvnias. Interpol reportedly withdrew its notice in autumn 2024 after his lawyers' appeal. A reported October 2023 court decision said his extradition from Sweden to Ukraine was impossible because of the ongoing war.