Prosecutor Omelchenko, who was head in Kniazev case, was reduced in SAPO
The SAPO dismissed Oleksandr Omelchenko, head of the First Department of Procedural Guidance, Support of Public Prosecution and Representation of the SAPO in Court, who was in charge of the case of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniazev.
Omelchenko said this in a comment to Ukrinform, Censor.NET reports.
"I found out that I was no longer working for the SAPO on 3 July, when I came to work. Before that, on 30 June, I was on leave for one day. I was introduced to the order stating that the position of the head of the first department was reduced and at the same time a new position was created - the head of the first department - deputy head of the department for supporting public prosecution and representation in court of the SAPO, although such a position is not provided for by law," he said.
At the same time, Omelchenko attributed his dismissal to a conflict with the head of the SAPO, Klymenko, "over certain differences in the understanding of the procedural action in the Kniazev case".
"Before that, there were no complaints or claims to my work. There were also no grounds for reducing my position, as we have 11 prosecutors mobilized and there is a shortage of staff," he added.
According to Omelchenko, he was not dismissed from his position in the SAPO, but deprived of it.
"There was a reduction in the position of the head of the first department and immediately a vacancy appeared for the head of the first department - the deputy head of the department for supporting public prosecution and representation in court of the SAPO. In fact, this is not a reduction, but simply my position was removed," he says.
Later, Omelchenko appealed to the Council of Prosecutors with a report on the threat to the independence of the prosecutor.
When asked who is currently conducting the procedural supervision in the Knyazev case, he said that it is a group of prosecutors who have been working on this case together with him.
Earlier, Censor.NET reported that Omelchenko was dismissed from the SAPO after a conflict with the head of the SAPO, Oleksandr Klymenko, over the approval of a request for legal assistance from a detective of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to Poland to unlock Knyazev's phone seized during the searches.
Read more in the article The mystery of Knyazev's phone and why it led to the war in the SAPO.
As you know, on 16 May, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine detained Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniazev for receiving a $2.7 million bribe. The bribe was given for a ruling in the case of Konstantin Zhevago's company.
Later, it turned out that the case also involved lawyer Oleh Horetskyi, who had built a network to resolve issues in courts for money, as well as a former deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council and notary Kirill Gorburov. Knyazev was caught red-handed, but some of the judges who could have been involved in making decisions for bribes could not be documented.
According to what the court heard, Knyazev organized joint communication between the participants in the scheme and determined which cases could be negotiated. Goretsky, under the guise of practicing law, was to look for such "clients", and Horbunov was to transfer funds between the parties.
At a press conference, the NABU Director presented the case as a joint victory for the NABU and the SAPO. Next to him were Oleksandr Klymenko and Oleksandr Omelchenko.
Klymenko himself denied any personal conflict with Omelchenko in a comment to Censor.NET.
