21 June 2025
(Photo: Alternative.org)
The High Anti-Corruption Court has extended until August 16 the term of the duties imposed on the former chairman, judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Region, Valentyn Zaveriukha, in the case of the deferment scheme for men liable for military service.
This decision was made by the HACC on June 16, according to Slovo i Dilo.
In January 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, detained a judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Court of Odesa Oblast. According to the investigation, the judge took bribes of $3,500 for making decisions that allowed men of military age to avoid mobilization and go abroad.
The scheme was in place since April 2022. During this time, more than a thousand such decisions were issued. The court fictitiously determined the place of residence of the men's children, which allowed them to receive a deferral from mobilization. The scheme involved court employees, a lawyer, and intermediaries. The lawyer searched for clients and passed on bribes.
In April, the High Anti-Corruption Court received UAH 1.75 million bail for the former chairman, judge of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa region, Valentyn Zaveriukha.
On April 16, the High Anti-Corruption Court took judge Valentyn Zaveriukha of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Region into custody as he failed to comply with a previous ruling on a preventive measure in the form of a UAH 3 million bail.
In late March, the High Council of Justice granted a motion filed by Oleksandr Klymenko, deputy head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, and allowed two judges of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi court in Odesa region to be taken into custody.
Кирило Бойко