Ukraine Chief Justice sacked, arrested for accepting bribes
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The chair of Ukraine’s Supreme Court was removed from his post after being arrested in a bribery investigation, two anti-corruption bodies said.
The agencies did not identify the chair by name, but said it was the Supreme Court chief. On Tuesday, Vsevolod Knyazev was dismissed as chief justice after an overwhelming majority of the court’s judges voted to strip him of the position, according to local news reports.
The authorities accused the justice of accepting $2.7 million in bribes.
“This is a dark day in the history of the court,” the court’s judges said in a joint statement. “We must be worthy and withstand such a blow.”
The judges added that they would fully cooperate with investigations, and that the court must “act on the principle of self-purification, taking all necessary measures.”
Despite Russia's invasion, Kyiv has stepped up efforts to combat corruption, and doing so is essential to fulfilling the requirements for joining the European Union.
The chief justice of the Supreme Court was detained in connection with an alleged bribery scheme, according to Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) prosecutor Oleksandr Omelchenko, who said he was awaiting a formal "notice of suspicion."
Although Omelchenko did not give the judge's name, the chief justice of the court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Supreme Court's chief justice has currently been imprisoned, and steps are being taken to investigate other people for potential criminal involvement, according to Omelchenko, who was speaking at a joint press conference with the NABU.
When NABU revealed on Monday that anti-corruption organisations were looking into widespread corruption in the Supreme Court system, it also shared a picture of neatly stacked dollar bills on a sofa.
The head of the Supreme Court was suspected of accepting a $2.7 million bribe, according to a statement from NABU. Semen Kryvonos, the agency's director, stated at the briefing on Tuesday that it was the most well-known case involving Ukrainian agencies battling corruption.
He declared, "We are demonstrating what our priority is—top corruption and criminal organisations at the highest levels of power—through real cases and real deeds.
According to Kryvonos, the bribe may have been a part of a larger plan to exert pressure on the court and was given in exchange for the judge siding with the Finance and Credit financial group, which is owned by well-known businessman Konstiantyn Zhevago. Zhevago has denied doing anything wrong.
Ukraine's Supreme Court denounced corruption on Tuesday during an emergency session. It declared that it would fully assist the investigation and started the procedure for expressing its lack of confidence in Kniaziev.