Courts ignore 48 cases referred by NABU
Not even preliminary hearings were held in 48 out of 166 criminal cases which detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) completed investigating as of late October 2018 and under which the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) filed charge documents to the courts.
"This ‘abysmal ranking’ is topped by the so-called case of Ternopil prosecutors. The court once again decided to return the indictment. The case has not been considered for almost two years after it was referred to the court on Nov. 11, 2016," NABU said in a statement, Censor.NET reports.
"Another case against officials charged with causing losses to State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine JSC has been ‘traveling’ through various judicial agencies for about 22 months. The next preliminary hearing is scheduled to be held by the Sviatoshynskyi district court of Kyiv on Nov. 26.
"Altogether, the courts have so far issued rulings only in 35 cases referred by the NABU and SAP. Most of them concern plea-bargaining agreements or exemption of those who played minor roles in corruption-related crimes from criminal liability. The hearings were adjourned and postponed due to various causes: verifiable lack of judges, non-attendance, sick leaves or vacations of participants to the trials.
"The Higher Anti-Corruption Court should bring finality to the cases investigated by the NABU and SAP while the verdicts would help the government reclaim assets attached for the duration of the investigation. That is why both Ukraine’s society and international partners demand its speedy creation," the NABU said.
