Ex-head of Ukraine's Supreme Court arrested with option of bail

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - The Higher Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine has ordered that former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev, who faces bribery charges, be remanded in custody with the option of paying 107 million hryvni in bail.

The court issued this ruling on Thursday evening, partly granting a motion lodged by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Ukrainian media said.

"The motion [...] requesting a custody term as a restraining measure [...] shall be granted in part. Vsevolod Knyazev shall be placed [...] in pre-trial detention at the Kiev remand center," the investigating judge said in his ruling pronounced on Thursday evening.

Knyazev will stay in custody until July 14, 2023. He was arrested in the courtroom.

The former chairman of the Supreme Court also has the option of paying 107.360 million hryvni in bail. If he does so, he will be released from pre-trial detention but will have to abide by a number of obligations: Knyazev will have to show up whenever summoned by a defective or an investigator, will not be allowed to leave Kiev without permission from a detective, prosecutor or court, will have to refrain from contacts with other suspects, hand in his international travel passport and wear an electronic monitoring tag.

The Prosecutor's Office had asked the court to remand Knyazev in custody with the option of bail of more than 150 million hryvni.

The ruling may be contested at the appellate chamber of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court.

A live stream of the court session was available on the YouTube channel of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court, Ukrainian media said.