Judge Ivchenko, suspected of high treason, was not taken into custody: HCJ decision
Kyiv • UNN
The High Council of Justice refused to take into custody judge of the Kyiv Commercial Court Anatoliy Ivchenko, who is suspected of treason. He is accused of ruling in favor of the Russian Defense Ministry in 2012, which resulted in Ukraine losing UAH 3.1 billion.
The High Council of Justice has denied the prosecutor's request to take judge Anatoliy Ivchenko of the Kyiv Commercial Court into custody. Ivchenko is suspected of having ruled in favor of the Russian Defense Ministry in 2012, which resulted in Ukraine losing more than UAH 3 billion. This was reported by the High Council of Justice, UNN reported.
The HCJ refused to give consent to the detention of a judge of the Kyiv Commercial Court,
On January 23, the HCJ considered a motion filed by Deputy Prosecutor General Anton Voitenko. During the meeting, the members of the council heard the positions of the prosecutor's office, the judge himself, and his lawyers. As a result, the majority of HCJ members - 11 out of 14 - voted against taking Ivchenko into custody.
The prosecutor's office believes that Ivchenko, by making the decision in 2012, facilitated the collection of funds from the state budget of Ukraine in favor of Russia, which could later be used for war.
The judge himself denies the charges, stating that all his decisions have been upheld by higher courts, and considers the charges to be politically motivated and undermining the independence of justice.
I, Anatolii Mykolaiovych Ivchenko, have been working as a judge of the Kyiv Commercial Court for almost 15 years ... I was visited by DBR investigators at my home and office to conduct an unauthorized search and handed a suspicion of treason. These actions lasted nine hours,
Anatoliy Ivchenko states that the suspicion of high treason is related to his September 2012 decision in case No. 5011-61/11340-2012. According to him, this decision was upheld by the Kyiv Commercial Court of Appeal in December 2012 and the High Commercial Court of Ukraine in January 2013, and the Supreme Court refused to review the case in May of the same year.
Ivchenko emphasizes that the legality of his decision was confirmed by 11 judges, but only he received a suspicion.
He also noted that the investigation of this case began in 2014 under the article on unjust decision, but after it was recognized as unconstitutional, the case was reclassified as treason. Ivchenko claims that the proceedings under the number 62023000000000707 were illegally split off from the case №62021000000000999, which was previously closed by the investigating judge. The decision to close the case was confirmed by the Kyiv Court of Appeal in November 2023.
Ivchenko notes that the investigating judges found that the pre-trial investigation in this case expired on January 1, 2022. The ruling of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv of December 11, 2024, also recognized that any actions and evidence obtained after that date are inadmissible.
According to Ivchenko, this is why investigators decided to conduct searches without a court order, although in 2016 similar searches in the previous proceedings were conducted with the permission of the investigating judge. The searches took place 13 years after the decision in the case.
Ivchenko claims that he is accused of making a decision without confirming the legitimacy of the grounds for recovery, although, according to him, such actions of the court should have been assessed only after the case was considered, and not at the stage of opening the proceedings.
He draws special attention to the role of Symonenko, who in 2012, as an SBU officer, certified the compliance of documents submitted to the court, but in 2022, as Deputy Prosecutor General, canceled the decision to close the proceedings and appointed a group of prosecutors. According to Ivchenko, this creates a conflict of interest, as Symonenko was a witness in the case.
The judge emphasizes that one of the prosecutors appointed by Symonenko signed an illegal resolution to segregate materials from the criminal proceedings, which contradicts the provisions of the CPC.
In his opinion, this is a violation of procedural rules.
Ivchenko also said that he had already appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, where his case is currently being considered.
He believes that this precedent creates a dangerous situation for all judges in Ukraine, as now any final decision can be questioned years later.
It is obvious to me that such actions are a consequence of my professional activities, and I will inform everyone about the details of this arbitrary case,
What are they accused of?
Ivchenko is accused of contributing to the damage to Ukraine's economy in excess of UAH 3.1 billion. According to the investigation, in 2012, the Russian Ministry of Defense filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv Commercial Court, demanding to recover funds from the State Budget of Ukraine for allegedly failing to fulfill gas supply obligations in 1996-1997.
Despite the fact that Ivchenko was on vacation, the court staff changed the dates so that he could receive the case through the automated system. The judge granted Russia's demands, which, according to law enforcement, could have contributed to the financing of the war.
