Ukraine detains Supreme Court head in corruption probe
May 16, 2023
Two Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies said on Tuesday that the top judge in the country's highest court was in detention, a day after they announced a seizure of cash and a suspected corruption case at the Supreme Court.
"At this time, the head of the Supreme Court has been detained and measures are being taken to check other individuals for involvement in criminal activity," Oleksandr Omelchenko, a prosecutor at the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), told a press briefing on Tuesday.
What have investigators said?
He did not name the individual, but the top judge at the court has been 43-year-old Vsevolod Kniaziev since his appointment in 2021.
However, Omelchenko said that investigations were ongoing, and that the detained man had not been issued with a formal "notice of suspicion," designating him as thought to be involved.
Omelchenko made the announcement in a joint briefing with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukriane (NABU), which on Monday evening said it had "exposed large-scale corruption" in the Supreme Court, in particular a scheme to obtain undue advantages by the organization's leadership and judges.
NABU and the SAPO published images of a lage sum of cash in US dollars on a piece of furniture and said that more details would be published at a later date.
Investigators say the case revolves around bribes worth $2.7 million (around €2.5 million), the bulk of which was to go to top judges at the court, thought to ultimately hail from billionaire Kostiantyn Zhevago. They say it was in return for ruling in favor of Zhevago's company, the Finance and Credit financial group.
Zhevago made much of his fortune in the banking and finance sector but has operated in many others. He was also a member of Ukraine's parliament from 1998 to 2009, as part of the bloc led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Zhevago has denied any involvement; Kniaziev did not immediately comment on Tuesday.
Ukraine trying to show tougher line on corruption
NABU's chief Semen Kryvonos said the case was the highest-profile Ukrainian anti-corruption investigation to date.
"We are showing through real cases, real deeds, what our priority is: it's top corruption, it's criminal organizations at the highest levels of power," he said.
Ukraine hopes to one day join both NATO and the EU, and to join the EU in particular, clamping down on corruption will be required. The country regularly ranks poorly in global corruption league tables and indices.
In Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine ranked 116th out of 180 countries evaluated. It was the lowest-placed European country on the list — unless you also include Russia, in 137th position.
Zelenskyy himself originally ran on an anti-corruption and reform platform, pledging major changes and an end to the oligarch-dominated politics he had lampooned in his comedic television depiction of a Ukrainian president.
His early time in office was described by some as a disappointment on this front, but Russia's invasion last February both drastically changed the focus of Zelenskyy's tenure and radically boosted what were very weak domestic approval ratings.
Top court votes to dismiss Kniaziev
Later on Tuesday, Ukraine's Supreme Court's plenum voted 140-2 in a no-confidence motion against Kniaziev, paving the way for his suspension.
The vote does not formally strip him of his position or title but is an important first step on that path.
msh/jcg (AFP, AP, Reuters)