Former Chairman of Ukraine's Supreme Court released from pre-trial detention centre

Alona Mazurenko — Wednesday, 31 January 2024, 17:27

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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