Ukraine's High Qualification Commission of Judges Head found out to have Russian citizenship

The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HQCJ) has received a letter from Ukraine's Security Service (SSU) stating that HQCJ's Head, Roman Ihnatov, has Russian citizenship. Earlier, Ihnatov had denied having a Russian passport.

Source: Dzerkalo Tyzhnia (Mirror of the Week) with reference to sources in the HQCJ and the High Council of Justice; the HQCJ on Facebook; Ihnatov in an interview with Judicial and legal newspaper in June

Details: Sources in the HQCJ and High Council of Justice confirmed that the Committee received such a letter. Dzerkalo Tyzhnia stated that the HQCJ is currently conducting active consultations on what to do with this situation, and Ihnatov is preparing a briefing.

Ukrainska Pravda asked the SSU for a comment.

Later, the HQCJ officially confirmed that they had "read the information received from the competent authorities" and also reported that they had requested immediate confirmation or refutation of the information that Ihnatov may have Russian citizenship.

Quote: "In connection with the information that the head of the HQCJ may have a Russian passport surfacing in the public space, and after familiarisation with the the information received from the competent authorities, the Commission considers it necessary to address relevant requests for immediate confirmation or refutation of the published information.

To ensure the openness of the process, the Commission decided to involve public representatives. The Commission will make a decision based on the results of the analysis of the received documents."

More details: The commission emphasised that it takes a "principled position regarding the inadmissibility of the other citizenship, except Ukraine", including the aggressor country, for judges and judicial governance bodies members.

Update: In turn, Roman Ihnatov stated in a comment to Dzerkalo Tyzhnia that he is preparing a briefing to answer all the questions: "This is a provocation at the state level. They don’t need those who are honest and unbiased."

Background: 

• Information that Ihnatov may have a Russian passport began spreading in June. He denied this information in an interview back then. Ihnatov explained that he studied and worked in Russia in the 1990s but only had a passport of a USSR citizen, which he received when he was 16.
• Ihnatov said that the document certifying the procedure for obtaining state citizenship clearly states: "Citizenship of Ukraine confirmed in July 1996". The relevant column reads as follows: "Has not held citizenship of other countries, former Soviet republics, etc.". Ihnatov added that the issue of his possible Russian citizenship was subsequently repeatedly checked when he held positions in the Ukrainian prosecutor's office.
• Ihnatov was elected as the HQCJ chairman in June 2023. Appointment of all HQCJ members was one of the tasks Ukraine received along with the status of a candidate for EU membership.

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