The pre-trial investigation in the case of ex-Minister Solsky will expire in two months - there is no evidence of guilt

The High Anti-Corruption Court has once again extended the pre-trial restraint against former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solsky for two months, until December 8. In December, the pre-trial investigation of this case, which has been conducted by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors for five years, since 2019, is also due to expire . Evidence  of the former minister's guilt has not yet been collected.  This is stated in the materials of the HACC court hearing, UNN reports. 

In court, the prosecution, in particular the SAPO prosecutor, asked  to extend the preventive measure against Solskyi, arguing that NABU detectives lacked an evidence base and that the investigation was too long. The defense, in turn, insisted on unfounded  suspicion, a long investigation, and the absence of any risks on the part of former Minister Solsky, who has been in Ukraine for the entire duration of the investigation.

The HACCJ judge partially granted the prosecutor's motion, obliged the former minister to appear at the investigators' summonses, but allowed him to leave Kyiv and the region.

The prosecution also stated in court that they have not yet been able to collect evidence to charge the former minister. In particular, they have not been able to identify some of the orders of the Main Department of the State Geocadastre in Sumy region, which, according to the investigation, should have facilitated the commission of crimes.

Context

This refers to a criminal proceeding in which former Minister Mykola Solsky and a number of other individuals are suspected by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors of seizing land plots in favor of thousands of ATO soldiers. According to the investigation, Solsky, a lawyer at the time, helped the soldiers register land in Sumy region that was allegedly used by the National Agrarian Academy.

The investigation of this case has been ongoing since 2019, but there is still no evidence that these lands were really related to the NAAS. The Supreme Court and forensic examinations have already refuted this version of the anti-corruption activists, but the latter have not dropped the charges. They are planning to interrogate ATO soldiers, most of whom are currently at the front.

The ATO soldiers themselves are outraged by such actions of the security forces and assurethat they received the land plots deservedly and legally.

Oleksandr Kolotilin, the former head of the State Geocadastre, spoke about the legal nonsense and pun of this case in an interview. He confirms that the land plots that became the property of ATO soldiers have never been used by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in the history of independent Ukraine. According to him, the agrarian academy does not have  any official documents for these lands, and the NABU's suspicion is based on a Soviet Union document "drawn" with a ballpoint pen, where the name of one of the NAAS state enterprises is written instead of a Soviet collective farm.

We would like to add that the evidence base is questionable not only because of the "painted" copy of the Soviet document relied on by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors, but also because of the detectives' attempt to get rid of the results of a forensic examination that they themselves ordered  as part of the investigation of this case. Such actions of anti-corruption activists may indicate that the forensic examination conclusion could have testified to Solskyi's innocence.

Interesting fact

NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors have announced a suspicion against former Minister Mykola Solsky in the midst of political negotiations with the Poles to unblock the borders for Ukrainian farmers. Solsky was the main speaker from Ukraine in these talks. On the eve of the announcement of the suspicion, the Polish side said that they had come close to a compromise, but after the NABU's statements, the Poles used a formal excuse to withdraw from the negotiations. No compromise has been reached so far. The last border blockade was organized by the Poles a week ago.

Therefore, some market players are inclined to believe that NABU detectives, funded by international donors,  deliberately played along with the Poles.