The British Embassy in Ukraine on June 16 lambasted a Ukrainian court ruling in favor of ex-State Fiscal Service Chief Roman Nasirov, and said it could try him – a U.K. citizen – in the United Kingdom.
Nasirov, a protégé of President Petro Poroshenko, is suspected of illegally allowing participants of an alleged corrupt scheme at state gas producer Ukrgazvydobuvannya to delay tax payments, causing losses to the state of Hr 2 billion ($74 million).
“We are deeply concerned about the recent decision in Kyiv’s Solomyansky Court, where evidence provided by the UK in relation to the case against Roman Nasirov was ruled inadmissible and disregarded,” the embassy said in posts on social media. “The UK authorities will now review the facts and consider if criminal offences have been committed by a British citizen which may be tried in the UK.”
Kyiv’s Solomyansky Court on June 8 rejected prosecutors’ request to confiscate Nasirov’s Hr 100 million ($3.7 million) bail for the budget.
The prosecutors, who submitted a U.K. document confirming Nasirov’s British citizenship, were seeking to confiscate the bail because Nasirov failed to give his British passport to the Ukrainian authorities.
Nasirov claimed that the document was fake. But Judith Gough, the U.K. ambassador to Ukraine, on June 8 refuted Nasirov’s claim, confirming that he has British citizenship. The U.K. embassy provided the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine with Nasirov’s British passport number and the date of its issue, Interfax-Ukraine reported at the time.
Judicial reform
“This case underscores the urgent need for progress towards a reformed, independent and transparent judicial system and the swift introduction of specialized anti-corruption courts with strictly vetted judges capable of properly trying high profile corruption cases,” the embassy said.
Ukraine’s judicial reform law, which was passed last year, envisages the creation of an independent anti-corruption court. Activists have proposed holding a transparent competition for such a court with the help of foreigners and civil society.
However, Poroshenko has effectively rejected the idea because of what critics see as a fear of there being independent judges capable of jailing his associates.
The embassy also said that the “U.K. is a strong supporter of reform in Ukraine” and that “reform of the Ukrainian judicial system is a crucial part of the Ukrainian government’s program.”
Meanwhile, civic activists accuse the authorities of sabotaging the ongoing creation of a new Supreme Court as part of the reform.
The High Qualification Commission has ignored 82 percent of the Public Integrity Council’s 140 vetoes on Supreme Court candidates deemed to be corrupt or dishonest and let them pass to the next stage.
Double citizenship
Double citizenship is banned for Ukrainians and can be grounds for firing an official.
In April Poroshenko suspended the Ukrainian citizenship of Sasha Borovik, an ally of ex-Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili and a critic of the president, and Radical Party lawmaker Andriy Artemenko, because they allegedly have German and Canadian citizenship, respectively. Lawyers differ on whether Poroshenko had the right to suspend it.
However, Nasirov’s Ukrainian citizenship was not suspended, prompting accusations of a selective and politicized approach. In May lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko filed an appeal asking Poroshenko and Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko to suspend Nasirov’s citizenship.
“Does that rule apply only to their opponents and is it a new technology of blackmail and settling of scores?” he said.
Nasirov case
Nasirov was arrested by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau in March, and the Soloymansky Court was initially reluctant to set bail for him. After hundreds of protesters blocked the court building, Nasirov was released on Hr 100 million bail.
Fugitive lawmaker Oleksandr Onyshchenko, a suspect in the same corruption case that involves Nasirov, has claimed that Poroshenko instructed Nasirov to delay tax payments for Onyshchenko’s gas firms and used the unpaid tax money to finance Poroshenko’s political projects.
Poroshenko has repeatedly denied Onyshchenko’s allegations, dismissing them as a smear campaign orchestrated by the Kremlin.
