HACC harming Ukraine by millions, although it should protect state funds - expert

Judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) Kateryna Sikora, whom the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) suspects of illegal enrichment, "knocked out" for herself half a million hryvnias from the budget through the court. In general, the High Anti-Corruption Court is harming Ukraine by millions, although it should protect state funds.

Political expert Oleh Posternak has written this.

"The HACC judge wrung out half a million hryvnias of the state through colleagues. Kateryna Sikora, whom the NACP suspects of illegal enrichment (!), "knocked out" for herself half a million hryvnias from the budget through the court. This is open information, reflected in the judge's declaration. Thus, the "servant of Themis" decided that the Cabinet of Ministers illegally limited the multi-thousand-dollar salaries of top officials and judges during the coronavirus epidemic in 2020. Now UAH 505,000 should go conditionally not to the procurement of drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but into the pocket of the HACC judge. She hadn’t got full during Covid - she's catching up during the war. What is this, if not corruption?" wrote Posternak.

According to the expert, this contradicts the main function of the HACC, which is designed to protect state funds from encroachments.

"The High Anti-Corruption Court is harming Ukraine by millions, although it should protect state funds. There is a lot of information on the Internet that its employees are "embezzling" state money, showing an example of how to "undress" the country. According to lawyers, Judge Sikora has created a dangerous precedent: now thousands of officials and judges will put millions of hryvnias "underearned" during Covid into their pockets. They will draw from the budget of a warring country," he stressed.

He recalled that this enrichment is just one of the few scandals surrounding the HACC.

"Just recently, information appeared about Judge Markiyan Halabala, who illegally received official housing and did not indicate a number of other information in the declaration (this is what lawyer Rostyslav Kravets writes about on his Telegram channel). Another judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court, Vitalii Kryklyvyi, was caught in housing fraud with the help of his wife, who, coincidentally, is also a judge of the HACC! Volunteer lawyer Artem Krykun-Trush wrote about this in his column in Ukrainska Pravda," Posternak reported.

In his opinion, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SACPO) turn a blind eye to all this while the HACC churns out cases on their orders. As a result, the High Anti-Corruption Court is becoming increasingly dependent on detectives and prosecutors in exchange for a luxurious life.

"While this continues, such activities of the NACB-SACPO-HACC triangle are causing more and more damage to the state: victims of their actions are increasingly turning to the European Court of Human Rights and winning considerable sums from Ukraine. Only one human rights activist a few weeks ago awarded EUR 15,000 to the state. In general, Ukraine pays from EUR 100,000 to EUR 200,000 every month under the ECHR decisions. Last year alone, more than EUR 2 million was paid. And now we have a threatening trend towards an increase in the amounts of payments. All this is money that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not receive," the expert concluded.

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