Kyiv Administrative District Court on April 26 ruled that Serhiy Bochkovsky, the former head of the State Emergency Situations Service, who was charged with corruption in 2015, can return to his old job.
The court ordered the service to pay Bochkovsky the wages he would have earned had he been in his job since 2015.
Bochkovsky and his deputy Vasyl Stoyetsky were detained in a high-profile televised arrest at a cabinet meeting in March 2015. They were charged with embezzlement by buying fuel at inflated prices. Bochkovsky was released on Hr 1.2 million bail.
The judges did not drop the charges, and Bochkovsky and Stoyetsky have been formally on trial since 2015.
Bochkovsky was also charged with taking a bribe, abuse of power, forgery and embezzling Hr 6.6 million by buying metal detectors. The case against Bochkovsky and Stoyevsky was sent to court in November 2015.
Kyiv Administrative District Court is headed by Pavlo Vovk, who has been filmed by Radio Liberty’s Schemes investigative project meeting with Oleksandr Hranovsky, a top lawmaker and ally of President Petro Poroshenko, and who has been accused of having political links of Hranovsky.
Hranovsky has denied influencing the judiciary.
