HOT ANTICORRUPTION NEWS / Issue #91
February 22, 2019
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Today's issue:
- Ukraine’s leading presidential candidates (minus Poroshenko) promise to fight corruption;
- anticorruption court news:
- courts may return questionable candidates to the competition;
- acting head of the anticorruption court apparatus has the house on one land plot with the SBI’s deputy head;
- Austrian prosecutors investigate money-laundering case following AntAC appeal;
- families of Heavenly Hundred Heroes asked the HQCJ about failure to cleanse judiciary;
- attacks against activists and media
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Ukraine’s leading presidential candidates (minus Poroshenko) promise to fight corruption
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In January, 23 NGOs came up with an anticorruption agenda for presidential candidates. It included new SAPO management, the relaunch of NACP due to failure to verify e-declarations, protection of NABU from political attacks and closing down SBU anticorruption unit. NGOs invited the leading presidential candidates to discuss these four issues. Here’s what we learned.
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Anticorruption court news:
Courts may return questionable candidates to the competition
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Taras Zayets, the candidate to the High Anti-Corruption Court vetoed by international experts, tries to invalidate the ban. He filed two lawsuits to scandalous District Administrative Court of Kyiv.
The first lawsuit concerns the abolition of rules of procedure of the Public Council of International Experts (PCIE), and the second regards the decision of the PCIE to initiate the veto regarding the candidate.
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In case of the abolition of the PCIE’s rules of procedure, not only Zayets but all questionable candidates, which were vetoed by the PCIE, will be able to apply for positions of the anticorruption judges.
Moreover, later on, three more candidates who were vetoed also appealed to the Supreme Court on the same issue. More details.
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Acting head of the anticorruption court apparatus has the house on one land plot with the SBI’s deputy head
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Wife of the newly appointed acting head of the High Anti-Corruption Court apparatus Oleksiy Zhukov has the house on the same land plot in Kyiv with the first deputy head of the State Bureau of Investigations Olga Varchenko. The latter is considered to be close to President's people. More details.
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Austrian prosecutors investigate money-laundering case following AntAC appeal
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Prosecutor’s Office of Austria in collaboration with NABU investigate money-laundering scheme that allegedly involves syphoning money from Ukrainian banks through Austrian Meinl Bank AG. The investigation was opened following the appeal, submitted by AntAC in February 2016. According to DW, investigation targets at least 30 people, including at least one Ukrainian citizen, and one legal entity. More details.
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Families of Heavenly Hundred Heroes asked the HQCJ about failure to cleanse judiciary
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On February 20 families of Heavenly Hundred Heroes came to the High Qualification Commission of Judges to ask its members why they have failed to ban candidates who persecuted Maydan activists from the Supreme Court competition. No one came out to talk to them, Commission's head Kozyakov quickly passed by.
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But this was not the worst. Later on, the HQCJ posted a release on their Facebook page claiming that... the Commission organized a photo-exhibition in the hall and the families allegedly came there "in the framework of the commemoration event". What a cynicism!
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Attacks against activists and media:
Criminal case against Vitaliy Shabunin
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Two court hearing in the criminal case against Vitaliy Shabunin were held this week. Witnesses Oleksandra Ustinova, Serhiy Leshchenko and Oleg Rybachuk, as well as media law expert Taras Shevchenko were questioned. All of them stated that Filimonenko behaved as a provocateur, not a journalist.
Leshchenko reminded that Filimonenko led rallies against NABU near the Parliament, and also provoked him and other fighters against corruption as well for a number of times.
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Ustinova told the court how she was harassed by Filimonenko and his cronies at the airport in May 2017, at 6am on Sunday. She filed a number of complaints to the police regarding the incident and pressure over her, but they were never considered. This pressure over Ustinova was the reason for Shabunin having punched Filimonenko one month afterwards.
Filimonenko constantly interrupted the witnesses, the attorneys and even the judge, who have made him several remarks. Top manifestation of his disrespect to the court was when he left the courtroom after the judge allowed Shevchenko to comment on the case.
Shabunin is charged with art. 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "Threat or violence against a journalist" for punching the bully-blogger Filimonenko. The medical examination was falsified. Filimonenko is covering up with the journalist ID of the non-working media. Shabunin faces 5 years in prison.
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Infographics by KyivPost
The trial against Vladyslav Manger is ongoing. On February 16 Manger was released on $90,000 bail, paid by his attorney Dmytro Ilchenko. On February 21 no one of his 5 attorneys showed up in the court, the hearing was postponed to February 28. The initiative "Who is behind Handziuk's murder" held a rally near the court, Kateryna's father had an address and told that he is being threatened.
Activists also informed that the chief of Kherson police Artur Merikov warned Oleksiy Levin, one of the organizers of the murder, about perspective detention so the latter managed to flee the country.
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Case of Odesa activist Ustymenko
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Vitaliy Ustymenko notified that one of the organizers of the attack on him was just released from the remand prison. The witnesses refused to testify. Should case materials sent for trial not mention the organizer of the crime, detained executors will most likely be acquitted, as this would mean the attack was not contract.
If the case is not transferred to another investigative body, it will be completely watered down.
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Guards of the oligarch Akhmetov are systematically following Schemes’ journalist during six months
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Guards of the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov organized systematic spying on the journalist Mykhailo Tkach and the camera crew of the investigative program Schemes: Corruption in Details (the joint project of Radio Svoboda and TV channel UA: Pershyi). Since September 2018 several the same vehicles regularly rode behind the editorial car of Schemes when the team went for shooting in the framework of their professional duties. They spied both in government districts of Kyiv, outside the town and near the airport Zhulyany, stated the editorial team of Schemes and published the regarding video evidence. More details.
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PGO attempts to access Novoye Vremya internal documents
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On February 4, Kyiv Pechersk district court has provided the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) with access to the internal documents of the editorial office of Novoe Vremya magazine and all the materials that journalist Ivan Verstiuk sent to their email addresses. If the editorial office does not provide the information requested by the investigators, searches will be warranted.
Verstiuk authored a number of high-profile investigations, including on corruption in defence procurement.
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This PGO probe concerns his article "The Diamond Daughter." The story covered foreign studies of the daughter of former Deputy Prosecutor of Kyiv region Oleksandr Korniiets. At the same time, Novoe Vremya claims they relied on the data of the investigation conducted by the British criminal agency. More details.
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