There will be no defense. The Council of Judges found no grounds to defend the judge who claimed pressure from Hetmantsev

The Council of Judges of Ukraine has not received any reports of interference in the activities of Vitaliy Tsyktych, a judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, and therefore sees no reason to defend the judge. This is stated in the response to the request of UNN.

Context

Earlier, Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the Rada's tax committee, published several postson his Telegram channel, calling on the public to put pressure on the court and openly criticizing  the judges' decisions. Judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv Vitaliy Tsyktych appealed to the High Council of Justice and the Prosecutor General's Office with a statement about pressure from Hetmantsev and the MP's attempts to influence the court's decisions and interfere in its activities. The previous inspection on his application was conducted by HCJ Chairman Hryhorii Usyk. The HCJ decided that there were no grounds to take measures to ensure the independence of judges and the authority of justice at the request of Judge Tsiktic and refused to defend him. In addition, the judge informed UNN that the Office of the Prosecutor General refused to open criminal proceedings on his application. 

After that, Hetmantsev published another post in which he criticized the decision of the panel of judges of the Dnipropetrovs'k District Administrative Court. They recognized that the National Bank had made an illegal decision to revoke the license and start liquidating Concord Bank. This is probably how Hetmantsev wanted to influence the judges who will consider the NBU's appeal.

The Council of Judges of Ukraine draws attention to the fact that proper consideration of judges' reports of pressure and interference in the administration of justice is a priority task for ensuring the rights of Ukrainian citizens to an independent and impartial court. However, according to the analysis of the database of the "Office of the Council of Judges of Ukraine", there have been no reports of interference in the activities of judge V. Tsyktych of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv regarding the administration of justice, so the Council of Judges of Ukraine has no grounds to exercise the powers provided for in Article 133 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Judicial System and Status of Judges"

Recall

Denys Neviadomskyi, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Retired Judges, emphasized that Hetmantsev violates the Criminal Code of Ukraine with his calls. According to him, the MP, in particular, calls for interference in the work of the court and violates the presumption of innocence.

Lawyer Dmytro Kasyanenko noted that Hetmantsev's post could be regarded as pressure on the judge and influence on his decision. Lawyer Serhiy Lysenko believes that Hetmantsev is trying to influence the court through public opinion and is taking on the role of a judge by determining which decision of Themis will be legal in the criminal proceedings on illegal tobacco.