Criminal proceedings against AS Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev dropped | OneFootball

Criminal proceedings brought against AS Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev and his lawyer, Tetiana Bersheda, have been annulled by order of the Monaco Court of Appeal.

The proceedings against Rybolovlev and Bersheda were opened back in 2017 and regarded charges of corruption and traffic of influence. The foundation of the proceedings was based on the extraction and use of Bersheda’s phone by judge Édouard Levrault during another investigation, which opposed Rybolovlev with Swiss art seller Yves Bouvier.

The proceedings were initiated solely on the basis of the extraction of these messages, which was done in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects the right to private life. An ECHR ruling in Switzerland several months ago dismissed the criminal proceedings against Rybolovlev and Bersheda and the Monégasque system has now followed suit.

“As we have stated consistently over these seven years of judicial inquiry, Dmitry Rybolovlev and Tetiana Bersheda maintained their innocence and awaited the end of the case with confidence” read a statement from the lawyers, Martin Reynaud, Thomas Giaccardi, and Jacqueline Lafont, viewed by Get French Football News.

There are no longer any criminal proceedings against the pair. “They are totally and definitively cleared,” concluded the statement from the lawyers handling the case.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle