Reformer of the week – Volodymyr Sushchenko
On Oct. 30, legal scholar Volodymyr Sushchenko pointed at what he sees as shady dealings in the selection of members of the High Council of Justice, the judiciary’s highest governing body that appoints judges of all levels.
Sushchenko, the former head of the selection commission, argues he tried to spearhead a transparent selection process to choose High Council of Justice members trusted by civil society but his efforts had been derailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The President’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
In June, Zelensky canceled his predecessor Petro Poroshenko’s appointment of two members of the High Council of Justice and scheduled a new competition for the jobs. He argued that Poroshenko’s appointments were unlawful and violated competition procedures and a court order.
The commission appointed by Zelensky recommended four candidates backed by civil society and three candidates identified by several anti-corruption watchdogs as not meeting integrity standards.
Out of these, Zelensky chose Oksana Blazhyvska, the daughter of Yevhen Blazhyvsky, a former deputy of ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s infamous Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka on Sept. 30. Sushchenko voted against Blazhyvska’s candidacy.
Blazhyvska has violated professional ethics and integrity standards, and her assets do not match her income, according to anti-corruption watchdogs. Blazhyvska did not respond to requests for comment.
Zelensky was expected to choose one of the candidates backed by civil society for the second vacancy, but instead the president issued an Oct. 30 decree rejecting the candidates and scheduling another competition for the High Council of Justice job. Despite anti-corruption watchdogs’ statements, Blazhyvska kept her job.
The candidates supported by civic watchdogs include Larysa Golnyk, Ukraine’s most famous whistleblower judge; Roman Maselko, a member of the Public Integrity Council, the judiciary’s civil society watchdog, and Roman Bregei, one of Ukraine’s most outspoken and reputable judges. The two other reformist candidates were Viktor Fomin, a judge who has issued dozens of rulings in corruption cases against top officials, and Pavlo Parkhomenko, who has meticulously protected human rights in cases involving children and teenagers.
“I regret that I believed (Prosecutor General) Ruslan Riaboshapka when he asked me to become a member of the commission for selecting two High Council of Justice members from the president’s quota,” Sushchenko, former head of the selection commission, wrote on Facebook. “I regret that initially I did not believe several of my friends who immediately said publicly that someone wants to use me as a façade for shady dealings to appoint council members.”
Anti-reformer of the week – Valery Khoroshkovsky
Valery Khoroshkovsky, who was deputy prime minister and headed the Security Service of Ukraine under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, regularly visits the presidential office and advises the State Customs Service, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Bohdan said in an Oct. 31 interview with the Ukrainska Pravda news site. Khoroshkovsky did not respond to a request for comment.
“When Valery Ivanovich was the head of the customs service (from 2007 to 2009), its revenues rose fourfold in two years,” Bohdan said. “Everyone, including enemies, friends and competing political groups recommended that we hear him out because, apart from theoreticians, there’s one person who actually did it in practice. Yes, he does advise us.”
Bohdan claimed that Khoroshkovsky advises Maksym Nefyodov, head of the State Customs Service, and accused Nefyodov of ineffectiveness. Nefyodov responded that Khoroshkovsky advises not him, but Bohdan on customs issues.
Khoroshkovsky, who departed Ukraine in 2012, has visited the country six times in his private jet since Zelensky took office, according to an Oct. 10 investigation by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty investigative program Schemes.
Khoroshkovsky told reporters that his visits are related to his business interests in the country.
“I have met with Mr. Khoroshkovsky (at the presidential office) on Bankova Street,” Zelensky told Schemes during a news conference on Oct. 10. “He had a very serious issue, and we discussed this issue tête-à-tête.”
The president also denied reports of Khoroshkovsky’s influence over his administration and disavowed any intentions to give him a government job. This statement contradicted what Bohdan said later.
Other Yanukovych allies have also returned to Ukraine under Zelensky. These include Yanukovych’s former deputy chief of staff, Andriy Portnov and Renat Kuzmin, a fugitive deputy of Yanukovych’s Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka. Yanukovych’s Health Minister, Raisa Bogatyryova, returned to Ukraine after a court ordered prosecutors to close a corruption case against her. However, prosecutors had not closed the case by that date and arrested her, after which she was released on bail.
Igor Kaletnik, who headed the customs service under Yanukovych, has also come back, according to Sergii Gorbatuk, the former top investigator in cases into the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution.
