LONDON: Former MEP and Welsh leader of the Reform UK party Nathan Gill was Friday jailed for 10 years and six months by a UK court for taking bribes to deliver pro-Russia speeches in the European parliament.
Gill pleaded guilty at London’s Old Bailey criminal court in September to accepting thousands of euros (dollars) from a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine, and making scripted statements and television appearances at his behest.
These involved raising concerns about democracy in Ukraine, and criticizing Volodymyr Zelensky when he was elected as the country’s president.
“You abused a position of significant authority and trust,” judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said, handing down the sentence, adding that Gill’s conduct “fundamentally compromised the integrity of a supranational legislative body.”
“You accepted payments from foreign nationals, made statements on important international matters at their behest, utilized scripted material presented as your own, and orchestrated the involvement of other MEPs.”
Gill was an MEP from 2014 to 2020 as a member of the Euroskeptic UKIP party, including when it was led by current Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
He was also leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, and was briefly a member of the Welsh parliament, called the Senedd, from 2016 to 2017.
He pled guilty to eight counts of accepting bribes between December 2018 and July 2019 from Ukrainian politician Oleg Voloshyn, who was later sanctioned by the United States and indicted for treason in Ukraine.
Police stopped and seized Gill’s phone in September 2021 when he was traveling to Russia for a scientific conference.
They found WhatsApp message exchanges with Voloshyn starting in September 2018, including Gill agreeing to make introductions in the European parliament and to try to win over “several MEPs.”
Farage — whose Reform UK party is topping several popularity polls in Britain — has said he did not know about his former colleague’s missteps. Gill is no longer a Reform member.
However, the case could be a headache for Farage, who has been criticized as being too soft in his stance on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Farage is also hoping that Reform will take power in the Welsh parliament in local elections next May.
The hard-right, anti-immigration party’s only member in the devolved Welsh parliament was suspended on Wednesday for using a racial slur.
UK court jails ex-MEP for 10 years for pro-Russia bribes
https://arab.news/4ptfu
UK court jails ex-MEP for 10 years for pro-Russia bribes
- Gill pleaded guilty at London’s Old Bailey criminal court in September
- “You abused a position of significant authority and trust,” judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said
Venezuela advances amnesty bill that could lead to mass release of political prisoners
- Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States
CARACAS: Venezuela’s legislature on Thursday advanced an amnesty bill proposed by acting President Delcy Rodríguez that could lead to the release of hundreds of opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons.
Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights organizations with backing from the United States. But the contents of the bill have not been released publicly, and rights groups have so far reacted with cautious optimism — and with demands for more information.
The bill, introduced just weeks after the US military captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, still requires a second debate that has yet to be scheduled. Once approved, it must be signed by Rodríguez before it can go into effect.
In announcing the bill late last month, Rodríguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled National Assembly would take up the legislation with urgency.
“May this law serve to heal the wounds left by the political confrontation fueled by violence and extremism,” she said in a pre-taped televised event. “May it serve to redirect justice in our country, and may it serve to redirect coexistence among Venezuelans.”
Rights groups, fearing some political detainees will be excluded, want more details about the requirements for amnesty before any final vote.
The Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights, or PROVEA, issued a statement emphasizing that the bill must be made public urgently due to its potential impact on victims’ rights and broader Venezuelan society.
Based on what is known so far about the legislation, the amnesty would cover a broad timeline, spanning the administration of the late Hugo Chávez from 1999 to 2013 and that of his political heir, Maduro, until this year. It would exclude people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, and serious human rights violations, reports indicate.
