During the consideration of the case of the former head of the State Judicial Administration, Oleksiy Salnikov, representatives of anti-corruption bodies offered him to conclude a plea bargain. As he told in an interview with "Sudovo-Yurydychna Hazeta" (Judicial and Legal Newspaper), he was hinted that if he signed the agreement, he would avoid real punishment, UNN reports. In exchange for avoiding punishment, Salnikov was to publicly admit his guilt in crimes that, according to him, he did not commit.
"I was persistently hinted at signing an agreement, for which they promised not to imprison me, but I had to publicly confess to committing serious crimes that I did not commit," Salnikov said.
He believes that such agreements are often used as a tool to create positive statistics of NABU's successes and demonstrate the effectiveness of the anti-corruption system to foreign donors.
According to Salnikov, it is for these purposes that similar cases are artificially strengthened or inflated to show the effectiveness of the work of bodies funded by international partners.
"Then it would look like another victory in the fight against corruption, but in fact - the conviction of an innocent person and taking control of the work of an important state body through 'agents of change'," he noted.
Salnikov claims that refusing the agreement was one of the reasons for the stricter approach from the High Anti-Corruption Court and even more active pressure.
"Without committing any criminal offense, I received a 3-year prison sentence from the HACC and the HACC Appeals Chamber in record time. Public activists are celebrating a victory and waiting for the next tranches for the fight against corruption and the reboot of Ukraine's judicial system, and the perpetrators of this crime are trying to take control of the judiciary," Salnikov added.
Recall
In August 2025, the HACC sentenced the former head of the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine, Oleksiy Salnikov, to three years in prison for abuse of influence. According to the investigation, he allegedly received 7.5 thousand US dollars, of which 5 thousand were to be transferred to Supreme Court judges for making a decision in the interests of a private company.
Salnikov himself categorically denies the accusations, stating that the case against him is fabricated, and the money was handed to him by NABU agent Honchar under the pretext of collecting funds for a car for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He insists that he did not take any actions to transfer illegal benefits, and Honchar acted as a provocateur.