HACC Denies Judge Recusal in Kyrylenko Case

The HIgh Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has refused to disqualify a judge in the case of the head of the Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) Pavlo Kyrylenko. The judge's disqualification was requested by Kyrylenko's lawyer on August 5, which was the reason for postponing the hearing on the selection of a preventive measure.

Pavlo Kyrylenko and his lawyer insisted that his case was assigned to a judge outside the chronological order of case allocation. Cases at the High Court of Cassation are assigned automatically.

The lawyer also claimed that the husband of the judge in the Kyrylenko case works at NEC Ukrenergo. The Antimonopoly Committee is considering cases involving NEC Ukrenergo, so there may be a conflict of interest, since Pavlo Kyrylenko heads the Antimonopoly Committee.

The court did not grant the lawyer's request to challenge the judge. On August 5, Pavlo Kyrylenko's preventive measure could not be extended because the lawyer filed for the judge's challenge.

Pavlo Kyrylenko is a suspect in the EBK database.

As is known, the anti-corruption court refused to arrest Kyrylenko and released him on bail of UAH 30.28 million. He was also given the following obligations: to appear upon first demand; to report a change of residence; not to leave Kyiv without permission; to refrain from communicating with witnesses; to hand over his foreign passports and to wear an electronic bracelet.

Later, Kyrylenko's electronic bracelet was removed and he was allowed to move freely around Ukraine. The prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested that his remaining duties be extended for another two months.

We also reported that NABU had completed the investigation into Kyrylenko.