The Higher Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) found the detention of the former head of the Supreme Court Vsevolod Knyazev legal and kept him in custody.
The court made its decision on May 17.
Knyazev contested his detention and called it "illegal". According to him, he himself told the law enforcement officers where the money was so that they would not "look for it in the drawers" — this is allegedly aiding the investigation. As a result, the court found the complaint unfounded and the detention legal.
The specialized anti-corruption prosecutorʼs office has already turned to the High Council of Justice with a request to grant court permission to arrest Knyazev.
The case of Vsevolod Knyazev
On May 15, it became known that Knyazev was caught taking a bribe of almost $3 million. The bribe was connected with decisions in favor of businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago in the case of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant. In the Supreme Court, a "back office" was created under the leadership of Vsevolod Knyazev — the bar association helped judges make the necessary decisions for money.
In 2002, Zhevago acquired 40.19% of the shares of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant from four companies. In 2020, the former shareholders wanted to return these shares through the court, but the court refused them. In 2022, the Court of Appeal still declared invalid the contract for the purchase and sale of shares of the plant. In order to prevent the loss of shares, in early March, Zhevago turned to the "back office" of the Supreme Court. Already on April 19, the Supreme Court made a decision in favor of Zhevago — it recognized that the businessman legally purchased the Poltava plant.