Ukraine: Man Disguised as Chewbacca Arrested Driving ‘Darth Vader’ to Polls

A man disguised as the Star Wars character Chewbacca was arrested in Ukraine for breaking election laws after he drove “Darth Vader,” the Internet Party candidate for mayor of Odessa, to vote in local elections.

“Chewbacca” broke election day laws by campaigning for “Darth Vader” for Odessa mayor. It took four officers to arrest the Wookiee after he could not produce his ID.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jMk6NJNs8s

Authorities fined Chewbacca 170 hryvnia [$7.49], but he insisted he could not pay “because his money is tied up in an intergalactic bank that does not have a branch of Earth.” It is not certain whether this Chewbacca is a man known as “Stepan Chewbacca,” who has been Darth Vader’s running mate in previous elections.

Darth Vader was furious to learn he was not on the ballot even though he owns a Ukrainian passport. It does not appear he used the force to choke those who left him off.

Vader heads the Internet Party of Ukraine, which was founded in 2007. He has made regular appearances since the fall of Russian backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

Last week, locals transformed a statue of Vladimir Lenin in Odessa into Darth Vader. Artist Alexander Milov designed the statue, which is the world’s first statue of the famous Star Wars antagonist.

The factory installed a router into the head, “delivering Wi-Fi to the area around the Sith Lord.” The Internet Party “campaigns for free computer lessons for Ukrainian citizens and a transition to digital media away from paperwork.”

The statue was scheduled for destruction in accordance to a new law to “decommunize” the country. President Petro Poroshenko signed a law in May “mandating that within six months Soviet monuments – except those relating to World War II – must be dismantled and public places with communist-related names need to be rechristened.”

In October 2014, Darth Vader attempted to run for Prime Minister. He toured the country with his running mate Stepan Chewbacca and “stormtroopers.”

President Petro Poroshenko will have to consider a petition to appoint Darth Vader as Prime Minister of Ukraine after it received more than 25,000 signatures. A man named Master Vladimirovich Yoda submitted the petition.

“We are building a country with the rule of law and the President’s word is sacred to me,” Vader wrote on Facebook. “Thank you to everyone who signed and thanks to the President for the incoming decree.”