Isn’t it a good thing Yanukovych took a rain-check on his state visit to Malta last November? There would have been another deposed dictator with a Gieh Ir-Repubblika.
Switzerland said Thursday it was prepared to freeze any funds that Yanukovych might have in Swiss banks, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday:
The Swiss government has decided “in principle to freeze any possible funds Mr Yanukovych may have in Switzerland”, foreign ministry spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger told AFP in an email.
The full decision, which would be published Friday, obliged Swiss banks to show increased vigilance when it comes to Ukrainian funds, he added.
Asked whether Yanukovych or his entourage would be blocked from receiving visas to the country if they were to make such an application, the foreign ministry spokesman would only say that “Switzerland is following very closely the situation in Ukraine.”
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140227/local/mallia-calls-for-eu-office-in-libya-to-consider-asylum-applications.508567
1) Libya is not a signatory of the 1951 Refugees Convention + 1967 Protocol. Being a signatory in itself is not enough, since there needs to be national legislation and a functioning body to assess asylum applicants’ claims.
2) The 1951 Refugees Convention is an international instrument signed by States in order to define who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of States. Under the Convention and Protocol, there is a particular role for UNHCR and its activities in ‘third countries’.
3) The EU has no mandate or remit to assess asylum applicants’ claims. Neither in EU Member States nor in ‘third countries’! It is the responsibility of EU Member States to assess, grant or reject asylum claims! The 2011/95/EU Qualification Directive sets standards and levels of protection for EU Member States to follow.
To the Minister: So shouldn’t we ask on what legal grounds is such a proposal being made? Who advised you, or rather whom did you consult, on this matter?
To the Public: Think, is this a sound and realistic proposal part of an overarching strategy or just fodder for domestic political consumption?
To the Police & AFM: Will turning back boats to Libya deal with the phenomenon itself? Would such a strategy address the continued flows into Libya?
Anyone wants to wager this despot already has a Maltese passport and thus won’t need any visas to move around?
http://www.yanukovychleaks.org
Documents are being uploaded on this website continuously.
Hopefully the word ‘Малта’ comes up on one of the archive searches.
Austria is operating on similar lines:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/28/ukraine-crisis-austria-idUSV9N0JV00420140228
Whilst in Malta he and Aliyev would be offered citizenship which they can well afford with all those stolen funds. They wouldn’t even need to pass the due diligence test as Mallia has the prerogative to grant citizenship regardless of them being considered criminals.
http://www.sptimes.ru/story/39245
In the event that a similar move is eventually countered against Aliyev and his family, what becomes of all of the Socar trading etc companies that are set up in Malta and in which the Aliyevs have a share?
It seems to me that Malta is progressively inviting these sort of funds.
Similarly what if a passport holder gets “picked up,” what happens to:
i) their passport and that of their family;
ii) the refundable part of the funds placed in Malta for themselves and / or their family.
Ilham Aliyev may well be registered as the “father of” Leyla who may or may not have just acquired a passport and / or passports for “the family.”