Prosecutors fail to temporarily dismiss scandalous Kyiv judges

The High Council of Justice unanimously voted to
reject the prosecutor general’s request to place on temporarily leave Pavlo Vovk,
the scandalous head of Kyiv District Administrative Court, as well as five
judges of this court, the council reported on Sept. 1. The council concluded
that the request to dismiss Vovk “does not contain sufficient evidence” that
Vovk has been declared a suspect in a criminal case. Vovk and his colleagues are suspected
by the National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) in attempts to seize power in
Ukraine. Among others, Vovk is suspected of taking control over the High
Council of Justice.

Alexander Paraschiy: The
council’s unanimous vote in favor of Vovk only supports the NABU’s allegations
that this gentleman has enormous influence over the council, which is the body
that should oversee judges. In this way, Vovk seems to have control over the
entire judicial system. For president Zelensky and his entourage, who have said
not a single word about the Vovk case, such a status quo seems to be
beneficial. All this means that the president is not willing to change the
situation with the rule of law in Ukraine, which is bad news for Ukraine’s
investments case.