Ukraine's judicial system came under renewed criticism on July 9 after a court acquitted a university president on bribery charges in the same city where the educational institute is located and where he has various business interests.
Petro Melnyk, 58, the former president of university in Irpin,
Kyiv Oblast, that trains future tax collectors was arrested on July 27, 2013
after he was caught taking a bribe for Hr 120,000 for enrolling two students to
the educational institute.
Melnyk has always maintained his innocence.
He was subsequently placed under house arrest with an ankle
monitoring bracelet, but managed to escape in August 2013. After his
disappearance, he was placed on an international wanted list by Interpol, and
apprehended in April 2014.
The bribery case started on July 2014 at the Irpin City Court,
which cleared him on July 9.
Some lawmakers expressed fury
upon hearing the news, pointing the blame partially at corrupt judges.
“All efforts of the president,
prime minister and lawmakers on fighting corruption are nullified by corrupt
judges,” said lawmaker and Interior Ministry advisor Anton Gerashchenko. He
called on the General Prosecutor’s Office and President Petro Poroshenko to
restore justice.
People’s Front lawmaker
Olga Chervakova said, “bribery is the least Petro Melnyk could be accused of.”
Public resentment toward Melnyk and the justice system furthermore
mounted when multi-billion hryvnia corruption
schemes were revealed by Ukraine’s State Financial Inspection
in April.
In 2012-2014, the state
gave Melnyk Hr 1.6 million to pay for the education of 77 students who were no
longer enrolled at the National Tax University where he was president, Radio
Liberty reported on July 9, citing the report.
Other alleged deals
included Melnyk pocketing Hr 3.1 million for repairing dormitories in 2011.
Another Hr 3 million of taxpayers’ money was spent to build apartments intended
for university staff members that he used for private gain. An additional Hr 27
million was used to purchase medical equipment in 2010 that was never used.
Melnyk’s lawyer, Ihor Cherezov, called
the bribery accusations for which his client was cleared “a complete
make-believe” because of inadmissible and conflicting evidence.
Melnyk doesn’t wish to speak to
the media, Cherezov told the Kyiv Post by phone on July 13.
“We (the law firm) would not take
this case unless we knew it is falsified. We have represented victims of Maidan
crimes in court. When we examined the case files, we understood the case was
whooped up,” Cherezov told the Kyiv Post by phone on July 10.
Among the discrepancies that Cherezov
cited are: The police report didn’t mention the Hr 80,000 that Melnyk allegedly
obtained in cash from the first bribery victim.
It contained a different figure:
Hr 56,200.
Second, the court forensics never
found traces of the liquid that is applied to money used in bribery stings in
Melnyk’s bag, while the police report said Melnyk had placed the allegedly
taken money there.
Third, police did not prove that Melnyk
received Hr 40,000 via non-cash payment from the bribery second victim.
The General Prosecutor’s Office on July 9 announced that it will
appeal the Irpin City Court acquittal.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Gerashchenko wrote
at his Facebook page that he is preparing motions to different institutions
seeking to dismiss the three judges, who acquitted Melnyk if an appeal court overrules
the lower court’s decision.
Lawyer Cherezov said
Gerashchenko’s allegations are interfering with the court’s independence.
“Without knowing the facts of the case, Ukraine’s members of parliament are
making unfounded claims and put pressure on the judiciary. Moreover, in his
post on Facebook Gerashchenko called upon the president to take control over
situation. This is wrong,” said Cherezov.
When asked, why Melnyk fled the
country, Cherezov said because the court was going to change the measure of
restraint from house arrest to detention for no good reason. “From that very
moment, Melnyk realized that the investigation was biased against him,”
according to Cherezov.
Cherezov says his law firm first
communicated with Melnyk two weeks before he came back to Ukraine after he fled.
“Melnyk knew he would be detained and would face trial. Yet, he came back to
acquit himself,” Cherezov said.
Kyiv
Post’s legal affairs reporter Mariana Antonovych can be reached at
[email protected].
