President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept. 30 appointed to the High Council of Justice a daughter of a top prosecutor who served ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, preferring her to several candidates with a reputation for integrity.
Zelensky’s appointment of Oksana Blazhyvska to the judiciary’s top governing body has triggered indignation among anti-corruption activists. She is a daughter of Yevhen Blazhyvsky, an ex-deputy of Yanukovych’s infamous Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka. Moreover, Blazhyvska has violated professional ethics and integrity standards and asset declaration rules, according to the AutoMaidan anti-corruption watchdog, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the DEJURE legal think tank and Transparency International Ukraine.
Blazhyvska and the Presidential Office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Oksana Blazhyvska became a judge of the Kyiv Commercial Court in 2010, getting a career boost immediately after her father became a deputy of Pshonka. Her sister, Natalia Blazhyvska, also got a career boost after that and is currently a justice of the Supreme Court.
Oksana Blazhyvska’s assets do not match her income, according to an investigation by AutoMaidan’s PROSUD judiciary oversight project.
Blazhyvska’s mother owns a luxury mansion with an area of 1,261 square meters, according to PROSUD.
She has used a Jeep Grand Cherokee car since 2011 but failed to include it in her 2014, 2015 and 2016 asset declarations, which is a violation of the law.
In June Zelensky canceled ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s appointment of two members of the council and scheduled a new competition for two job openings. He argued that Poroshenko’s appointments were unlawful and violated competition procedures and a court ban.
One of the disappointments was that the commission appointed by Zelensky on Aug. 5 banned Judge Larysa Golnyk from the next stage of the competition for a High Council of Justice job. In 2015, Golnyk published video footage that allegedly showed then Poltava Mayor Oleksandr Mamai pressuring her to close a case against him, and his former deputy Dmytro Trikhna unsuccessfully trying to bribe her in exchange for closing it. They deny accusations of wrongdoing.
The reformist candidates for the council also include lawyer Roman Maselko and Judges Roman Bregei, Vitkor Fomenko and Pavlo Parkhomenko.
Two other candidates for the High Council of Justice have been identified by several anti-corruption watchdogs as not meeting integrity standards. They did not respond to requests for comment.
Anzhelika Krusyan, a former prosecutor, has links to Serhiy Kivalov, a former ally of Yanukovych. She is a top executive at Kivalov’s Odesa Legal Academy, and her assets do not match her income, according to anti-corruption watchdogs.
Another candidate, Judge Mykhailo Kobal, has issued questionable rulings, including those in favor of Yanukovych’s Education Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk, the watchdogs said. The High Council of Justice has found that he violated procedural norms.
The more things change the more they remain the same. Z is a puppet of the oligarchs and as corrupt as those he accuses of corruption. He won't even denounce Klomoisky. Congrats Ukraine.
Ukraine is not to be faulted. After a quarter century and two revolutions the electorate simply wanted a change from the old regime. Poroshenko had made great advances towards that end but it takes time for systemic, macro reforms to filter down to where people can feel the difference. So they staked their hopes on the new "wunderkind" ….not "for" him (because he really did not stand for much other than vague expectations that things would get better) but against the deservedly discredited political elite of the past.
Didn't the U.S. experience the same, somewhat irrational but very human symptoms when the electorate voted for a political "empty suit" known as Obama and then Trump? Neither one had reason to inspire confidence in their fitness for the high responsibilities they sought.
it seems Zelensky will follow the same corrupt practices of prior leaders. the nation will be greatly disappointed and this honeymoon will be ended very soon.
Even if she is very qualified Zelensky should keep the process very transparent and keep certain people out of justice system. By not doing such he brings unwanted scrutiny on himself
-----In front of an open curtain! -----.
Power corrupts.
"It is said that power is corrupt, but it is in fact power that attracts corrupt. The wise are attracted to things other than power." So true!
----- Перед відкритою завісою! -----.
Влада псує.
"Кажуть, що влада є корумпованою, але насправді влада притягує корупціонерів. Мудрих приваблює інше, ніж влада". Так правда!
Hanserik Skaftruna.