The former Wales leader of right-wing populist political party Reform UK [10], Nathan Gill, was imprisoned [11] on Nov. 19 after pleading guilty to accepting bribes from the Kremlin. The Central Criminal Court sentenced [12] Gill to 10 years and six months imprisonment under Section 2 [18] of the Bribery Act of 2010. Gill pleaded guilty to those eight counts in September after entering non-guilty pleas in his preliminary hearing on March 14.
Gill served as a member of the European Parliament representing Wales from July 1, 2014, up to the UK's withdrawal from the European Union on January 31, 2020. During the course of his membership, it was found that Gill accepted [13] bribes between December 2018 and July 2019 in exchange for including pro-Russian rhetoric in his statements to parliament, thereby committing misconduct in the execution of his duties.
The man who orchestrated the bribes was identified as Oleg Voloshyn, a former pro-Russian Ukrainian MP who was a friend of incumbent Russian President Putin. Victor Medvedchuk [14], the chairman of the pro-Russian Ukrainian political party Opposition Platform–For Life [15], was named as the source of the payments to Gill and initiator of the bribery scheme. Gill met Medvedchuk through joining "Ukraine 112," a news board introduced to him by Voloshyn and his wife.
On September 13, 2021, Gill was apprehended at Manchester airport, and his phone was subjected to forensic analysis, revealing extensive correspondence between him and these two pro-Russian figures.
One instance of arranging pro-Russia statements was seen in count four of his prosecution, in which Gill is said to have enlisted the MEPs for South-West England, North West England and North East England, and a German MEP to be interviewed by Ukraine 112 using a script pre-written by Voloshyn. Gill was allegedly promised "5K" (presumably meaning euros) for orchestrating this.
Count seven asserted that Voloshyn offered Gill 2,000 euros for criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and instead praising Medvedchuk in a television interview under the instruction of Voloshyn.
Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb stated that Gill was "entrusted to exercise independent judgment and uphold the highest standards of integrity—values of paramount importance." She added:
When you say what someone has paid you to say, you are not speaking with sincerity. If it were your genuine opinion, you would not need to be paid for saying it. Whether or not you believed any of what you said at the behest of Voloshyn and Medvedchuk, allowing money to corrupt your moral compass constitutes a grave betrayal of the trust vested in you by the electorate.
From JURIST [19], Nov. 23. Used with permission. Internal links added.
