Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office investigating possible interference by Poroshenko into work of judges in PrivatBank case - court
KYIV. May 13 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office entered information into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations and launched a pretrial investigation into the possible interference by top state officials in the work of judges during a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in the PrivatBank case on April 18.
"Following the consideration of the motion of judges of the Kyiv District Administrative Court, the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine submitted information to Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations and began a pretrial investigation into possible interference with the work of judges by senior state officials during the NSDC meeting on April 18, 2019. In particular, we are talking about a crime enshrined by Part 2 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the press service of the Kyiv District Administrative Court said on Monday.
The judges who made the decision on the case involving the nationalization of Privatbank made statements to the administrations of the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Investigation Bureau on a criminal offence that was subject to a trial in accordance with the Ukrainian Criminal Procedure Code. In particular, the judges asked to start a pretrial investigation against President Petro Poroshenko, Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko and NBU head Yakov Smoliy by entering relevant information in the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations to prosecute the culprits.
"The judges found that the state administration, commenting on their decision recognizing the nationalization of Privatbank as illegal, had made statements that were a direct threat to the judicial system of Ukraine and constituted an encroachment on its independence and impartiality," the report said.
Part 2 of Article 376 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code envisages liability for interference in the work of judicial bodies.
According to earlier reports, the Kyiv District Administrative Court on April 18, 2019 granted a lawsuit filed by former Privatbank co-owner Ihor Kolomoisky and found the nationalization of the bank to be illegal.
A meeting of the NSDC took place on the same day, where Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ukrainian Security Service to study the possibility of prosecuting the judges of the Kyiv District Administrative Court, which had ruled that the nationalization of Privatbank was illegal.