During the investigation into the $2.7 million bribe case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniazev, law enforcement officials reported that other Supreme Court judges may have been involved in the bribery, but despite NABU's promises, the public has not heard their names. Experts interviewed by UNN say that more information will be available after the case of the former chief justice is brought to court.
Details
More than 30 searches were conducted as part of the Knyazev case. Including other judges of the Supreme Court. The investigation seized "marked funds" from four judges. However, the judges, except for Knyazev, continue to work in their positions in the Supreme Court.
"Unfortunately, no high-profile corruption scandal has ever been brought to a full result, unfortunately. At the beginning, we arrest, detain, talk, announce, and then there is no normal verdict or indictment, no confiscation, and the cases slowly die down. Yes, unfortunately, the practice of our anti-corruption bodies is not entirely effective," political analyst Oleksandr Kochetkov said in a commentary to UNN.
According to him, only the court can put an end to this issue.
"The names of people who testify in favor of the investigation cannot be disclosed until a court decision is made. And if it is not confirmed by the court that there were indeed such judges with "marked bills," then there should be an internal investigation against NABU employees who allowed such unreliable information to leak to the public. Therefore, either confirmation of the information and naming of names, or an internal investigation into the actions of those who leaked inaccurate information," Kochetkov added.
Political analyst Volodymyr Tsybulko also does not rule out that law enforcement officers may claim that the information about the involvement of other Supreme Court judges in Knyazev's bribe was made in the interests of the investigation to make the suspects come to light.
"In fact, this may be in the court materials - that is, these names of the Supreme Court judges were made public during the trial - ed.
He added that the role of other Supreme Court judges in Knyazev's case is still not fully understood.
Recall
UNN talked about judges in a high-profile case in 2023, which involved judges. In particular, it was about the detention for bribery of Knyazev .
In addition, last year, the case of the escape of the former MP accused of a series of contract killings and high treason, FSB agent Oleksandr Shepelev, which was also considered by the panel of judges of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, turned out to be no less odious. Judges Vyacheslav Marynych, Volodymyr Korol and Alla Makarovets unexpectedly decided to close one of the episodes of the case, which concerned bribery, due to what they considered insufficient evidence. Commenting on this decision, experts interviewed by UNN, point out that the judges could have been interested in ruling in favor of the FSB agent.
In addition, at the end of 2023 , the NABU and the SAPO caught four judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal red-handed - Vyacheslav Dziubin, Ihor Palenyk, Viktor Hlynianyi, and Yurii Slyva. They are suspected of receiving 35 thousand dollars in bribes.