The Prosecutor General’s Office on Dec. 28 charged Oleksandr Tupytsky, chairman of the Constitutional Court, with bribing a witness to make him give false testimony.
The charges are part of a criminal case into the unlawful seizure of businessman Vladyslav Dreger’s Zuivsky Energy and Mechanical Plant in the city of Zugres in Donetsk Oblast in 2006-2010. During that time, Tupytsky was a judge in a district court in Donetsk.
On Dec. 21, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s investigative program Schemes published audio tapes in which Tupytsky tried to dissuade Dreger from testifying against another controversial judge, Viktor Tatkov.
In response to Schemes’ publication, Tupytsky said that he does not have any relationship with the people named in their report. He added that investigators had questioned him on the issue and he could not reveal investigative information.
Tupytsky has faced harsh public criticism since Oct. 27, when the Constitutional Court issued a ruling that effectively destroyed Ukraine’s entire asset declaration system for state officials, eliminating a crucial pillar of the country’s anti-corruption infrastructure. Like several other judges, he voted for the decision despite having a conflict of interest, according to the National Agency for Preventing Corruption.
Since then, President Volodymyr Zelensky has tried but failed to remove the 15-judge court and appoint new justices. But his attempt to reshape the court has stalled. Charges against Tupytsky could reignite that effort: The president can suspend the head of the Constitutional Court if he is charged with a crime.
On Dec. 28, the Prosecutor General’s Office summoned Tupytsky to give him a notice of suspicion. However, he did not come due to “family reasons,” and the notice of suspicion was sent to him by mail, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
Maryna Khomenko, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General’s Office, said that prosecutors were not planning to impose arrest, bail or other restrictions on Tupytsky due to the “mild” character of the crime.
In 2018-2019, Tupytsky provided false testimony to the Prosecutor General’s Office in the plant seizure case, she added.
The Prosecutor General’s Office also asked the President’s Office to suspend Tupytsky from his job for two months. Tupytsky was appointed as part of the presidential quota in 2013, and his suspension is subject to approval by a court.
The tapes published by Schemes were recorded by Dreger, who was cooperating with investigators, in October 2018.
In 2009, Anton Yaitsky, a frontman for Tatkov, received a 40% stake in Dreger’s Zuivsky Energy and Mechanical Plant, according to Ukrainian investigators. Tatkov allegedly got the stake in exchange for his help in commercial disputes.
In the tapes, Tupytsky also discusses having received a 4% stake in the Zuivsky Energy and Mechanical Plant for being an intermediary between Tatkov and Dreger.
In 2009, Borys Rumak, an apparent frontman for Tupytsky, became a co-owner of the factory. Tupytsky had previously granted Rumak power of attorney to drive his car.
In 2018, Tupytsky proposed meeting Tatkov and splitting the company among the three co-owners involved, according to the tapes.
Another option would be to open a criminal case against Tatkov for “financing terrorism” in the Russian-occupied territories and then extort money from him for resolving the situation, Tupytsky said.
In the tapes, Tupytsky also appears to extort a bribe for helping Dreger and Tatkov solve their legal problems.
Tupytsky’s alleged partner, Tatkov, was the chairman of the High Commercial Court under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. Tatkov and his ex-deputy, Artur Yemelyanov, were officially charged in 2016 with illegally interfering in the automatic distribution of cases and issuing unlawful rulings under Yanukovych, and Tatkov fled to Austria.
