Former key figure in UK populist party Reform jailed for taking bribes to make pro-Russia statements
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
(CNN) — A one-time leading figure in Britain’s right-wing populist Reform UK party has been jailed for accepting cash bribes in exchange for making pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament.
Nathan Gill, 52, was sentenced to ten and a half years at London’s Central Criminal Court on Friday after he admitted accepting tens of thousands of pounds in cash over an eight-month period between December 2018 and July 2019.
In return for the payments, which the court heard were referred to by Gill and his handler as “Christmas gifts.” Gill made a series of pro-Russian speeches and statements to the European Parliament, as well as to pro-Russian news outlets in Ukraine, British news agency PA Media reported.
In sentencing remarks at the Old Bailey, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Gill’s offending was “persistent, rather than an isolated lapse of judgment.”
The court heard that Gill’s illegal activities were first uncovered after he was stopped at Manchester airport as he was about to leave on a trip to Russia on September 13, 2021.
An examination of his phone uncovered a series of messages between Gill and pro-Russian Ukrainian national Oleg Voloshyn, who had been a government official in Kyiv before 2014 and was sanctioned by the UK in 2022.
One exchange of messages revealed Voloshyn compensating Gill with 5,000 euros ($5700) for comments made on a pro-Russian news channel 112 Ukraine.
On a separate occasion, following European elections in 2019, Voloshyn promised Gill he would be “fairly rewarded” if he brought along some of his colleagues to a presentation at the Strasbourg parliament building given by pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, on the conflict in the Donbas region. Gill replied that he could “drag a few to attend,” PA Media reported.
Gill served as the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021 and led Reform UK’s 2021 Welsh Parliament election campaign. He is no longer a member of the party.
At the time of the offenses, Gill was a member of the European Parliament, after being elected for the UK Independence Party (UKIP)
Current Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage has previously said he had no knowledge of Gill’s activities, which he said he condemned “in every possible way.”
Britain’s Security Minister Dan Jarvis said Gill had “used his privileged position in public office to advance the malign interests of Russia over those of the UK in exchange for money.”
In a statement, he called it “a betrayal of our country, our people, and our national security.”
The-CNN-Wire
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