General Court of EU Drops Sanctions Designations on Former Ukrainian President

The European General Court annulled the sanctions designations of two individuals -- former Ukrainian President Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych and his son, Oleksandr Viktorovych Yanukovych, according to two court decisions last week. The listings were dropped because the European Council had not “satisfied itself” that the Ukrainian authorities afforded the listed individuals proper rights of defense and judicial protection in the criminal proceedings on which the council relied in making its sanctions determination. Both were originally included on the EU's sanctions regime in 2014 as individuals “subject to criminal proceedings in Ukraine to investigate crimes in connection with the embezzlement of Ukrainian State funds and their illegal transfer outside Ukraine.”