Former head of Supreme Court, Knyazev, was detained in Zakarpattia, near border with Romania. He stated that he was on his way to sanatorium (updated)
The former head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, Vsevolod Knyazev, was detained in Zakarpattia region, near the border with Romania.
Censor.NET editor-in-chief Yuriy Butusov posted this on his Facebook page.
Butusov noted that on 10 July at 16:40, in the village of Nyzhnia Apsha, Zakarpattia region, 400 metres from the state border, a border patrol detained a car with former Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Knyazev as a passenger.
"Knyazev was detained by the border guards in the village of Solotvyno, and they asked him why and how he had come to the border area to the border. At the moment, Knyazev has been asked to leave the region. No illegal actions were recorded on his part. No search was conducted, and there were no grounds for detention," he said.
Butusov reminded that Knyazev is a suspect and was detained while receiving a bribe by NABU detectives, the investigation into his case is ongoing.
In a comment to Censor.NET, Knyazev said that border guards did not detain him.
"I was not detained, I had no intention of crossing the border. I was heading to a sanatorium in Solotvyno," Knyazev said.
The case of the former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev
On 16 May 2023, the NABU and the SAPO announced that they had uncovered a bribery scheme involving the leadership and judges of the Supreme Court. Law enforcers detained the current head of the Court, Knyazev, and seized $2.7 million. Later, the SAPO served Knyazev and his accomplice, a lawyer, with a notice of suspicion.
On the same day, the plenum of the Supreme Court voted in favour of a motion of no confidence to the Chief Justice, Vsevolod Knyazev.
The HCJ granted permission to arrest Knyazev. The court arrested him with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 107 million 360 thousand.
On 31 May, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court refused to release former Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniazev, suspected of taking a bribe, but reduced his alternative bail from UAH 107.3 million to UAH 75 million.
On 5 September, the High Anti-Corruption Court reduced Knyazev's bail for the second time - from UAH 75 million to UAH 55 million. The next time the bail was reduced on 26 September - from UAH 55 million to UAH 45 million. On 2 November, the bail was reduced to UAH 35 million. On 21 December, the bail was reduced from UAH 27 million to UAH 20 million.
On 27 December 2023, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv found Vsevolod Kniazev, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, guilty of violating the statutory restrictions on receiving gifts. In addition, the court ordered Knyazev to pay a fine of UAH 2,550 and confiscated the gift in the amount of UAH 906,600.
On 31 January 2024, Knyazev was released on bail in the amount of UAH 18.168 million. The day before, the bail was reduced to this amount by the HACC investigating judge.
