Former Chairman of Ukraine’s Supreme Court released from pre-trial detention centre
Pravda Ukraine
Former Supreme Court Head Vsevolod Kniazev, who was granted bail in the amount of UAH 18.16 million (approx. US$496,387), has been released from custody.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda source in anti-corruption law enforcement agencies
Details: According to the source, the dismissed Supreme Court has been released from pre-trial detention.
He was now assigned a number of obligations, including wearing an electronic tag, handing over his passports, not leaving Kyiv, and so on.
Kniazev was granted bail earlier, on 31 January.
Earlier, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine extended Kniazev’s preventive measure of detention until 29 March and reduced the amount of bail.
Previously: On 30 January, the court reduced Kniazev’s bail from UAH 20 million (approx. US$533,749) to UAH 18.168 million (approx. US$496,387).
Before that, the bail amount was reduced six times. The previous time, on 21 December 2023, the Appeals Chamber of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court reduced the bail amount by UAH 7 million (approx. US$186.812), to UAH 20 million.
On 26 December 2023, the investigating judge of Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court, at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau detective and with the approval of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office prosecutor, limited the defence’s time to review the case’s materials. The deadline for review is 1 March.
Updated: The Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that Kniazev had been released from custody.
Background:
- On 15 May 2023, the Chief of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and his lawyer were caught red-handed receiving their second tranche of payments in the amount of US$450,000, in an act of bribery that had netted them a total of US$2.6 million. The very next day, the Plenum of the Supreme Court expressed a vote of no confidence in Vsevolod Kniazev, and he lost his position as the head of the Supreme Court.
- The media reported that Vsevolod Kniazev received money from people acting on behalf of oligarch Kostiantyn Zhevago. Zhevago’s press service claimed that he had nothing to do with the bribery.
- On 16 May 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office served the head of the Supreme Court and his lawyer with a notice of suspicion.
- On 3 August 2023, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office served Kostiantyn Zhevago, the former owner of the now-liquidated Finance and Credit Group bank, with a notice of suspicion. The investigation against the lawyer was spun off into a separate criminal case.
- Vsevolod Kniazev is in a pre-trial detention centre. He complained that due to the seizure of all of his property and accounts, he lacked the funds to pay for Internet access in the detention centre.
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