Consider Tony Soprano, the fictional leader of a New Jersey crime family. His mafia organization has a structure, a hierarchy, and an unwritten code of conduct. Its members are rewarded handsomely for service, and punished severely for disobedience. It penetrates state institutions while using bribery, threats, and other means to avoid justice. Finally, it engages in unlawful activity that harms society but generates money and privilege for its members.
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Mykhailo Zhernakov: It’s time to treat corrupt judiciary as a criminal syndicate
Oleksandr Tupytsky, chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (С), leaves the courtroom after hearing a case challenging the constitutionality of Artem Sytnyk as director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine on July 9, 2020. The court, derided as unaccountable and rife with conflicts of interests, has issued a string of rulings that dismantle anti-corruption institutions — including declaring Sytnyk’s appointment unconstitutional. In an interview with the Kyiv Post, former court chairman Stanyslav Shevchuk accused the judges of acting in the interests of the Kremlin and Ukrainian oligarchs to sabotage the nation’s democratic future.
