Far-right British ex-politician Nathan Gill was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison on Friday for being bribed to make pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament.
Gill, 52, pleaded guilty in September this year. Between December 2018 and July 2019, he took bribes from pro-Russian Ukrainian Oleh Voloshyn in eight cases. The police estimate that Gill has received at least 30,000 pounds (34,000 euros), writes The Guardian.
In exchange for this money, Gill, who was a MEP for UKIP and later the Brexit Party between 2014 and 2020, expressed his support for pro-Russian television channels in Ukraine. These channels are owned by oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also arranged for Medvedchuk to present a ‘peace plan’ for the Ukrainian region of Donbas during a meeting in the European Parliament.
The Ukrainian Voloshyn, who made the payments, is also in contact with John Laughland, the party ideologue of Forum for Democracy (FVD), wrote NRC in September. Voloshyn also maintains close ties with several prominent figures from the radical right-wing German party AfD, including former European party leader Maximilian Krah.
Small amounts
British Defense Secretary Al Carns calls on Nigel Farage, founder of the Brexit Party which later became Reform UK, to conduct a thorough investigation into “party structures, memberships, donors and representatives” to ensure the party no longer has pro-Russian links. writes The Guardian. After his time in the European Parliament, Gill was the political leader of Reform UK in Wales.
The case shows the “real and urgent” threat of foreign interference to British democracy, writes the nonprofit Transparency International UK a response. According to policy director Duncan Halmes, Gill is the first politician to be convicted under the Bribery Acta British anti-corruption law introduced in 2010. Halmes underlines that “relatively small amounts” were needed for Voloshyn to gain influence in democratic processes.
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