Several judges behind scandalous ruling are targets of investigations

Oleksandr Tupytskiy, the chief justice of the
Constitutional Court, acquired a land parcel of 126 sq. m. in the village of
Koreyiz outside of Yalta in Crimea in 2018, after it was illegally occupied by
the Russian government. Moreover, he didn’t report the acquisition in his 2018
and 2019 e-declarations on assets and income, as reported on Oct. 28 by the
Skhemy investigative news program, sponsored by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
and state television. He did this in violation of the law forbidding
deliberately fraudulent declarations, which was overturned in the scandalous Oct. 27 ruling.
He also violated a law forbidding Ukrainian state officials from cooperating
with illegal state bodies established by Russia in occupied Crimea.

The State Bureau of Investigations is currently
investigating Tupytskiy in criminal cases of participating in an organized crime
network, its press service reported on Oct. 29. The criminal organization
allegedly influenced the activity of Ukraine’s administrative courts, causing
them to issue unjust rulings in the interests of connected individuals for the
illegal confiscation of property. He is also being investigated for concealing
his alleged crimes. The statement didn’t mention the possible crimes related to
the acquisition of Crimean property.

Serhiy Zavhorodniy, the husband of Constitutional
Court judge Iryna Zavhorodnia, purchased a Kyiv luxury apartment for USD
457,000 in July, having declared his 2019 income of only a Russian monthly
pension of USD 220 and the sale of property worth USD 87,850, the bihus.info
news site reported on Oct. 29. Yet he also purchased a BMW X4 for USD 56,231 in
2019. Iryna Zavhorodnia earned USD 140,583 in 2019, as well as having received
an alleged gift from her 81-year-old mother worth USD 105,437. She reported USD
120,000 and UAH 2.8 mln in cash.

Constitutional Court Judges Iryna Zavhorodnia and
Serhiy Holovatiy had conflicts of interest when participating in the scandalous
Oct. 27 ruling, being the target of criminal
investigations of filing fraudulent e-declarations, the National Agency of
Corruption Prevention confirmed on Oct. 29.  

Zenon Zawada: These reports offer evidence the judges of the Constitutional Court
had conflicts of interest when reaching the Oct. 27 ruling. While that doesn’t
provide a legal pretext for the president to move to dismiss the entire court,
it does make theoretical criminal investigations as a viable means for removing
them. So instead of submitting reckless legislation to parliament, Zelensky
should have been working to try to ensure the ability of law enforcement and
the courts to address criminal allegations against influential officials,
particularly these judges, in a prompt and professional manner. The allegations
against Tupytskiy are particularly disturbing, considering he is the court’s
chief justice and was possibly making investments in Russian-occupied Crimea.