Pechersk court illegally closes NABU investigation against Zlochevsky
On Oct. 12, Pechersk court of Kyiv illegally interfered with the jurisdiction of the High Anti-Corruption Court and obliged National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine detectives to close the investigation of a $6 million bribe given on behalf of Mykola Zlochevsky, a former ecology minister under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and current owner of Burisma energy company. The NABU will appeal the court order to the Appellate Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court. Later this week, Pechersk Court also obliged prosecutors to withdraw the suspicion notice of Kyiv District Administrative Court Judge Pavlo Vovk.
First meeting of SAPO’s head selection commission raises tensions
On Oct. 13, the first meeting of the Specialized Anti-Prosecutor’s Office head selection commission was held. The commission had to decide on the rules of procedure of the selection process, but during five-hour discussion did not manage to reach the agreement. Also, the issue of further participation of Yuriy Drozd was raised (he is a police officer, and it is prohibited by law for him to be a member of the selection commission), but it was not resolved either. Nongovernmental organizations demand his dismissal to protect the integrity and legality of the selection process.
The biggest failures of Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova during her time in the office
More than six months passed since Iryna Venediktova took the position of the Prosecutor General Office. The Anti-Corruption Action Center examined the results of her work. It seems that the prosecutor general does not have real achievements, but we can easily name her top failures. Also, this week journalists reported that Venediktova blocks Oleg Bakmatiuk’s extradition request to Austria for four months.
New HCJ members to be appointed under old non-transparent procedure
The Congress of Judges of Ukraine plans to appoint four new members of the High Council of Justice (HCJ) as the term of the HCJ head Anatolii Ovsienko and other three judicial members expires. However, the candidates` integrity won`t be scrutinized as envisaged by international commitments of Ukraine.
In particular, by signing an agreement with the IMF and the EU, Ukraine committed itself to a qualitative renewal of the HCJ that suggests the establishment of an independent panel partially composed of international experts assessing candidates` integrity. Although the relevant draft law has been drafted by the Ministry of Justice, it still has not been submitted for consideration in the parliament.
Thus, the integrity of four new HCJ members may be questioned once the independent panel is created. The Congress of Judges will take place on Dec. 8-10, 2020. Judges also plan to select a member of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
#VisabanKremlinAgents – Dossier of Ihor Palytsia
We continue our investigations under #VisaBanKremlinAgents project.
Ihor Palytsia and his party are heavily attacking key reforms envisioned by the Ukraine-IMF cooperation and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic vector, but at the same time, Palytsia and his family hold luxurious assets in Austria, France, and Switzerland. Among those assets are luxurious housing in Geneva, and ski resort in Austria.
Although Palytsia claims he has divorced his wife in 2002, there are serious grounds to believe that their divorce is fictitious to hide the assets under his wife’s name.
In January 2020, his wife and son became official business partners of Ihor Kolomoysky in the oil and weapon businesses. One of their companies, U.S.-based Gray Fox Aviation, and Logistics Inc., failed to supply Ukraine with large-caliber weapons worth $16.6 million and didn’t return the money. The case is currently investigated by NABU.
Also, Palytsia extensively uses his charity funds to illegally finance his election campaign in hidden bribery of voters. He also controls semi-military group “Varta Poryadku” which in fact is his “private army.”
Tetiana Shevchuk is a lawyer with the Anti-Corruption Action Center in Kyiv.
