Mykola Knyazhytsky: Criminal investigation has not been terminated

The General Director of the independent TV channel TVi, Mykola Knyazhytsky wrote in his blog on Ukrainska Pravda early on Wednesday that “despite the reports from the Prosecutor’s Office Press Service that the criminal investigation against me has been terminated, the case remains current.  The Tax Administration has still not terminated it, I have no decision confirming termination, nobody has returned the TVi documents removed, and the Tax Administration has not withdrawn the court case.

I hope that commonsense and the law will prevail, and that all of this will at some stage take place. I can only guess why it is all happening in precisely this way”.

As reported, on 27 July the Prosecutor General’s Office announced that the Kyiv Prosecutor had cancelled the decision to initiate criminal proceedings.  It stated that the decision had been taken without a proper check and without sufficient grounds.

The search on 3 July and publicly announced charges against Knyazhytsky as representing TVi of tax evasion aroused consideration protest from media and human rights NGOs and from EU bodies and foreign governments, especially given the proximity of the parliamentary elections.