Mosiychuk: Shepelev's case was not without "money" - Mosiychuk

Law enforcement officers must register and bring to a logical conclusion the criminal proceedings regarding the possible bribery of Supreme Court judges who considered the case of the escape from custody of former MP accused of a series of contract killings and high treason, Oleksandr Shepelev. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive commentary to UNN by public figure and former MP Ihor Mosiychuk.

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The media reported that Supreme Court judges Vyacheslav Marynych, Volodymyr Korol and Alla Makarovets, who considered the appeal against Shepelev's sentence, were allegedly bribed  and changed it in favor of the former MP, almost releasing him. Hryhoriy Mamka, an MP from the banned Opposition Platform For Life, is allegedly involved in this.

"Of course, it is possible to register the proceedings. But the question is more about registering it and actually checking it and bringing it to a logical conclusion. I'll say this - I don't know, but the fact that judges take bribes and make inadequate decisions on criminal proceedings and outright crime - and Shepelev has outright crime, in fact, is a fact. And this needs to be monitored," Mosiychuk said.

In his opinion, Ukraine needs to carry out judicial reform and create a unit in one of the existing law enforcement agencies, in particular the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, that would check judges for bribery.

We need to completely change the judicial system, but there is a war going on. Therefore, it is necessary to at least create some kind of unit in some law enforcement agency - preferably in the NABU - that will monitor judges. Because such decisions do not come for free. Neither Shepelev, nor this Redkin (suspected of murdering ATO volunteer and participant Amina Okuyeva - ed.), who is a gang of killers. How can anyone think of releasing killers? The DNA is on the gun used to shoot Amina, and the court releases her. Therefore, we understand that neither Shepelev's case nor this one was without money

The former MP noted that the United States has such a law enforcement agency, and those who report bribery of judges are even protected.

"So we need to do something, because we have murderers who are already on the loose," he added.

Earlier, the Kyiv Court of Appeal changed the measure of restraint from custody to house arrest for Igor Redkin, who is suspected of murdering Ukrainian volunteer and ATO veteran Amina Okuyeva. He then fled to Hungary, which refused to extradite him to Ukraine because of the war.

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Kateryna Butko , head of the public council at the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), believesthat the Supreme Court needs to be reformed and cleared of dishonest judges, so that cases like Shepelev's will be considered transparently and efficiently. 

Lawyer and executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Oleksandr Pavlichenko told UNN that the High Council of Justice is tasked with forming an independent judicial system in Ukraine without political influence. 

Volodymyr Vatras, chairman of the subcommittee on the organization and activities of the Bar and legal aid bodies of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy, also spoke about the need to cleanse the Supreme Court of judges who have compromised themselves. 

Recall 

A panel of the Supreme Court changed Shepelev's sentence in the escape from custody case and tried to release him. Judges Vyacheslav Marynych, Volodymyr Korol and Alla Makarovets decided to close one of the episodes of the case, which concerned bribery, due to what they considered insufficient evidence. As a result, the property of the former MP will not be confiscated under this episode . Although, according to experts interviewed by UNN, the Supreme Court judges did not have the right to directly examine any evidence.

In addition, the judges counted the period of Shepelev's stay in the Russian pre-trial detention center as part of the sentence. He was detained in Russia following an extradition request from Ukraine. A year later, Russia refused to extradite the fugitive ex-MP to Ukraine, citing threats to its own national security. It turned outthat Shepelev was valuable to Russia because he was an FSB agent and a game player. 

The Supreme Court panel also used the Savchenko law and counted Shepeleva's stay in the pre-trial detention center on charges in other cases as part of his sentence. 

The prosecutor appealed the actions of the Supreme Court judges to the HCJ.  

According to the automatic distribution, the complaint in Shepelev's case will be considered by the first ever HCJ member judge who fought at the front against Russia, Olena Kovbiy.