From time to time, there are changes in high-profile corruption cases: some persons have been given interim measure, some have been imprisoned, and others have been acquitted. We decided to collect weekly updates of the work of the High Anti-Corruption Court to stay up to date with key news:
The investigating judge of the HACC had to choose an interim measure for the MP of “Servants of the People” Serhii Kuzminykh, who was caught receiving a bribe of UAH 558,000. However, things turned out differently. At the first court hearing, which took place on February 7, the judge was unable to confirm the identity of the MP because he arrived without a passport. And on February 11, the working hours were over, so the meeting was postponed until February 14.
Trukhanov’s “land” case: the HACC extended the term of office of one of the persons involved in the case, acting deputy mayor of Odesa, until April 5, 2022.
In the week from 7 to 11 February, the HACC Appeals Chamber imposed two sentences:
On February 7, 2022, the AP of the HACC sentenced Rostyslav Kharchenko, an ex-employee of the Vyshhorod interdistrict department of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and Kyiv oblast, to 5.5 years in prison.
For a bribe of USD 50,000, Kharchenko offered a commercial company to return the equipment for processing amber and 55 kg of amber raw material seized during a search in July 2016.
On July 9, 2021, the HACC sentenced a former SBU officer to 4 years in prison with a 3-year ban on holding positions of public office and local self-government, but the former SBU officer decided to appeal.
However, the panel of judges of the AP of the HACC partially granted the prosecutor’s complaint and sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison with deprivation of the right to hold law enforcement positions for 3 years and confiscation of property.
On February 9, 2022, the AP of the HACC imposed a new sentence on Oleh Vasyliuk, a judge of the Kovel City District Court of the Volyn Oblast — 2 years in prison instead of a fine.
Vasyliuk was caught receiving a bribe in 2017, and in June 2021, the HACC found him guilty of abuse of power and fined him UAH 25,500, depriving him of the right to serve as a judge for 3 years. However, the SAPO prosecutor decided to contest the verdict.
The AP of the HACC partially satisfied the prosecutor’s complaint, sentencing Vasyliuk to 2 years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold the position of a judge for a term of 3 years.
And finally, no less important are the changes that affect the work of the HACC judges. The President signed the law No. 5490 on liability for contempt of the HACC. Now, the Anti-Corruption Court has the right to fine participants in court proceedings if they violate the rules of conduct in court — for example, be rude to judges or come to the hearing under the influence of alcohol. A fine of UAH 850 to UAH 2,550 is envisaged for violation of conduct, and more than UAH 4,000 — for a repeated violation.
