HACC judges turn blind eye to obvious violations of law by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors - Professor Melnyk

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) "turns a blind eye" to obvious violations of the law by other participants in the anti-corruption bloc – National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). This negatively affects the decisions of the HACC, which is interested in playing along with the prosecution, - believes Doctor of Law, Professor Mykola Melnyk.

"The entry of the HACC into a unified "anti-corruption bloc" objectively affects its decisions, because it is interested in supporting the activities of other elements of the system to ensure a common result. Hence the loyal attitude towards the submissions, petitions, indictments with which the NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors address the HACC, to the assessment of the evidence they provide to the court, "turning a blind eye" to obvious violations of the law, etc. In many cases, one gets the impression that the activities of the HACC are reduced to compensating for the mistakes of detectives and prosecutors that they made when conducting procedural actions and drawing up procedural documents," Melnyk wrote.

He noted that the existence of a unified "anti-corruption bloc" of the HACC together with the NABU and SAPO is recognized even by leading domestic analysts, who actively support their activities. At the same time, well-known human rights defenders and public figures negatively assess such "systemic unity," the Professor emphasized.

"They note that the HACC, "being under constant pressure from the NABU, the SAPO and a certain part of specialized public organizations, instead of properly responding to such violations, actually "legitimizes" them. This leads to the combination of efforts of the pre-trial investigation bodies and the court to ensure no alternative repressive decisions, when the court takes the side of the investigation and prosecution and treats the suspects as criminals, although their guilt has not been proven," the well-known lawyer stated.

In turn, he reported, the NABU and the SAPO put pressure on the HACC. This is done either by initiating disciplinary liability of judges, who do not satisfy their requests, or by means of large-scale information campaigns with coverage of events from the appropriate perspective - on the day the person is notified of the suspicion.

"The public appeal of human rights defenders and public figures emphasizes that one of the systemic problems in the activities of anti-corruption bodies "is the appointment of the guilty at the stage of the pre-trial investigation, even before the notification of the suspicion. This is accompanied by the illegal and often manipulative disclosure of secret investigative data, as well as information campaigns aimed at discrediting those involved in criminal proceedings," Melnyk concluded.

It was previously reported that the High Anti-Corruption Court distorts the practice of the European Court of Human Rights. In fact, the HACC is leveling both legal assistance of defenders and human rights, said Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, Board Member of the Ukrainian National Bar Association Semen Khanin.

The European Commission noted that the High Anti-Corruption Court is becoming increasingly dependent on NABU and SAPO, which systematically violate constitutional human rights. And Ukrainian lawyers accused the judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court of performing tasks of SAPO prosecutors and NABU detectives. "The judges of the HACC adhere to a post-totalitarian, post-Soviet approach, when it is necessary to assist the prosecution - SAPO and NABU, to fulfill their task," they noted.

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