Head of HQCJ Ihnatov found to have Russian citizenship, - Media (updated)
The SSU sent a letter to the High Qualification Commission of Judges stating that the current head of the HQCJ, Roman Ihnatov, has Russian citizenship.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to ZN.ua.
The information was confirmed by the publication's sources in the High Specialised Judicial Commission and the High Council of Justice.
"It should be noted that reports of Ignatov's possession of a Russian passport began to spread in June this year. Back then, in an interview with SUD.UA, he denied these rumours. Ihnatov said that he had indeed studied and worked in Russia in the early and mid-1990s, but had only a passport of a citizen of the USSR, which he received when he was 16. According to him, the document did not contain any marks on the acquisition of citizenship of another country.
Instead, his Ukrainian citizenship was confirmed in July 1996, after he returned to his native Luhansk. Ihnatov stressed that since then he had undergone many thorough checks before being appointed to the prosecutor's office and courts. In particular, the last checks were carried out by the Competition Commission for the Selection of Members of the HQCJ and the HCJ, which finalized the selection," the publication writes.
At the same time, the HQCJ posted on Facebook that the commission "takes a principled position on the inadmissibility of citizenship (nationality) of states other than Ukraine, including the aggressor country, for judges and members of judicial governance bodies."
"In connection with the appearance in the public domain of information about the possible citizenship of the Head of the Commission, as well as following the review of the content of the information received from the competent authorities, the Commission considers it necessary to make appropriate requests for immediate confirmation or refutation of the published information.
To ensure the openness of the process, the Commission decided to involve representatives of the public.
Based on the results of the analysis of the received documents, the Commission will immediately make a decision," the Commission said.
At the briefing, Ihnatov denied having Russian citizenship and claimed pressure on the HQCJ, Ukrainska Pravda reports.
"On September 15 this year, information was illegally entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations (URPTI) against me for high treason during martial law under the circumstances of 2014, the circumstances of my captivity.
...I have provided a list of documents that completely refute the arguments made there. After that, the question arose that I allegedly have Russian citizenship," Ihnatov said.
He says that until 1996 he had a Soviet passport "without Russian or Ukrainian stamps," meaning he was stateless.
"Yesterday I received a letter (from a state agency about Ihnatov's alleged Russian citizenship - Ed.)
I appealed (for clarification - Ed.) to certain law enforcement agencies responsible for state security. I received different answers. One body replied that it had no information, the other that I had Russian citizenship, without providing any evidence," says the HQCJ head.
In addition, Ihnatov said that provocations were being prepared against HQCJ officials and asked for increased security.
