Punishment cannot be justified: HCJ to consider today statement of Judge Tsyktych on pressure from Hetmantsev

On Tuesday, July 23, the High Council of Justice will consider the statement of Vitaliy Tsyktych, a judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, about pressure and interference in the court's activities by Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the Rada's tax committee, UNN reports.

The session of the HCJ is scheduled for 10:00, according to the official website. Consideration of the application of Judge Ciktic is included in the tenth item on the agenda.

Based on the title of this item "On Approval of the Conclusions of the Members of the High Council of Justice on the Absence of Grounds for Taking Measures to Ensure the Independence of Judges and the Authority of Justice", the HCJ is likely to turn a blind eye to Hetmantsev's pressure on the judge.

At the same time, the conclusion of the preliminary verification of the facts set forth in the statement of Judge Tsiktich, which was conducted by HCJ Chairman Hryhorii Usyk, is still not available on the website.

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Earlier, Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the Rada's tax committee, published several postson his Telegram channel, calling on the public to put pressure on the court and openly criticizing  the judges' decisions. Judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv Vitaliy Tsyktych appealed to the High Council of Justice and the Prosecutor General's Office with a statement about pressure from Hetmantsev and the MP's attempts to influence the court's decisions and interfere in its activities. A preliminary inspection of his application will be conducted by HCJ Chairman Hryhoriy Usyk.

After that, Hetmantsev published another post in which he criticized the decision of the panel of judges of the Dnipropetrovs'k District Administrative Court. They recognized that the National Bank had made an illegal decision to revoke the license and start liquidating Concord Bank. This is probably how Hetmantsev wanted to influence the judges who will consider the NBU's appeal. Judge Tsiktich told UNN that the Prosecutor General's Office refused to open criminal proceedings on his application. 

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Denys Neviadomskyi, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Retired Judges, emphasized that Hetmantsev violates the Criminal Code of Ukraine with his calls. According to him, the MP, in particular, calls for interference in the work of the court and violates the presumption of innocence.

Lawyer Dmytro Kasyanenko noted that Hetmantsev's post could be regarded as pressure on the judge and influence on his decision. Lawyer Serhiy Lysenko believes that Hetmantsev is trying to influence the court through public opinion and assumes the role of a judge in determining which decision of the Themis will be legal in the criminal proceedings on illegal tobacco.