The chair of Ukraine’s Supreme Court docket was faraway from his put up after being arrested in a bribery investigation, two anti-corruption our bodies stated on Tuesday.
The companies didn’t establish the chair by title, however stated it was the Supreme Court docket chief. On Tuesday, Vsevolod Knyazev was dismissed as chief justice after an amazing majority of the courtroom’s judges voted to strip him of the place, in accordance with native information experiences.
The authorities accused the justice of accepting $2.7 million in bribes.
“This can be a darkish day within the historical past of the courtroom,” the courtroom’s judges stated in a joint assertion. “We have to be worthy and stand up to such a blow.”
The judges added that they might absolutely cooperate with investigations, and that the courtroom should “act on the precept of self-purification, taking all essential measures.”
Mr. Knyazev stays a Supreme Court docket decide; a separate physique, the Excessive Council of Justice, has the ability to take away him, in accordance with Ukrinform, a state information company.
The Nationwide Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine posted photographs on Fb that included piles of American {dollars} stacked on a desk and a settee. The company’s chief, Semen Kryvonos, stated a bribe was paid for ruling in favor of the Finance and Credit score monetary group, which is owned by a outstanding businessman, in accordance with Reuters.
The Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Workplace stated on Telegram that it and the bureau had “caught the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court docket and a lawyer red-handed whereas receiving an unlawful profit.”
Corruption, and Ukraine’s lengthy battle towards it, had largely receded within the public’s consideration after the Russian invasion final February, as Ukrainians rallied across the military and authorities at a time of nationwide peril.
