Olena Tanasevych, head of the High Anti-Corruption Court, has complained about alleged pressure by a member of parliament trying to meddle in a corruption case.
Tanasevych said in a Sept. 8 interview with news agency Interfax-Ukraine that the lawmaker had asked her to influence a court bail decision last month. She did not clarify to which court case she was referring.
“As required by the law, I immediately filed complaints with the High Council of Justice and the prosecutor general about interference into the delivery of justice,” she said.
Interfax-Ukraine cited its sources in reporting that the member of parliament involved is Yury Kamelchuk from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party.
Kamelchuk allegedly pressured Tanasevych to influence the bail hearings of businessman Yury Kushnir accused of giving a $180,000 bribe to Ivan Muntyan, the former head of Chernivtsi Oblast’s legislature, according to Interfax Ukraine. In 2020, a court set bail of Hr 10 million ($375,000) for Muntyan.
“I believe the accusations of Olena Tanasevych, head of the High Anti-Corruption Court, to be absolutely unfounded,” Kamelchuk told the Kyiv Post.
He added, however, that he had written an official MP request to Tanasevych and proposed considering arresting Kushnir and seizing his assets. Kamelchuk said that he does not believe this to be pressure on the court.
