MOSCOW, June 4 (RAPSI) – Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and his sons are contesting the freezing of their assets in European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, EuObserver reports on Wednesday.
Viktor Yanukovich, who considers himself to be the legitimate head of Ukraine, and his sons Viktor and Aleksandr have filed the claim on May 14. Six other people on the EU blacklist also launched proceedings to unfreeze their assets. Among those are former prime minister Nikolai Azarov, who resigned amidst the worsening political crisis in February, and former head of presidential administration Andrey Kluyev.
In late February, the Swiss authorities froze the assets of 20 Ukrainians including Yanukovich, former prosecutor general Viktor Pshonka and former Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov. In March, the assets belonging to nine more Ukrainian officials and their relatives were frozen.
On February 22, radicals seized power in violation of the February 21 agreement on the settlement of the crisis, signed by Ukraine’s opposition leaders and President Viktor Yanukovich in the presence of the French, German and Polish foreign ministers. The Verkhovna Rada announced the deposition of Yanukovich, reinstated the 2004 constitution and set early presidential elections for May 25, which were subsequently won by Ukrainian chocolate king Pyotr Poroshenko.