For over four years, Roman Korvatsky has attended hearings at the Kalush City and District Court every two weeks. Judge Irina Sukharnik hears his case against him for drug manufacturing and distribution.
"I heard in court that they were friends": What connects the judge in the drug case with the defendant's relatives
However, the trial isn't the judge's only connection to the Korvatskys. After the trial began, the woman purchased a plot of land together with the defendant's brother. She also attended private events with him on numerous occasions.
This is stated in the material of " Slidstva.Info ".
Irina Sukharnik is a judge at the Kalush City and District Court. Since May 2022, she has been presiding over a criminal case involving the production and distribution of narcotics by an organized group.
In 2021, according to investigators, drugs were seized from members of this group : approximately 10 kilograms of amphetamine and 50 kilograms of amphetamine-based amphetamine. The shipment was valued at between 15 and 21 million hryvnias.
There are eight defendants in the case. One of them is Roman Korvatsky. According to the YouControl analytics system, he was an entrepreneur until 2015, selling carpets.
Roman Korvatsky
The man was arrested on December 8, 2021. Investigators determined that the drugs were being manufactured in his garage. Roman Korvatskyi was soon released from custody after posting bail of 340,500 hryvnias.
In May 2022, Judge Iryna Sukharnik of the Kalush City and District Court began hearing a drug trafficking and distribution case. A few months later, she purchased one and a half plots of land in the village of Vyshkiv in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. According to her asset declaration , one plot belonged solely to her, and half of the other belonged to Volodymyr Korvatskyi, the brother of Roman Korvatskyi, a defendant in the drug case.
In August 2023, Sergei Korvatsky, the accused's nephew, became the owner of another plot of land nearby.
"At the moment, I don't own any land. I did have some, and I included all of them in my property declarations," Irina Sukharnik told Sledstva.Info reporters.
Indeed, in February 2024, Vladimir Korvatsky donated his share of the land he shared with the judge to his wife, Inna. A month later, Irina Sukharnik donated her land to her own father.
Vladimir and Inna Korvatsky divorced in June 2026.
However, a shared plot of land was not the only thing that Judge Sukharnik had in common with Roman Korvatsky's relatives.
Slidstva.Info has obtained photographs showing Irina Sukharnik meeting with Inna and Vladimir Korvatsky in an informal setting.
They attended a celebration of the amateur football team Gata and a gender reveal party for a mutual friend. Furthermore, a joint photo was posted on Irina Sukharnik and Inna Korvatskaya's Facebook pages. Both women's profiles are now private.
Roman Korvatsky, accused of drug manufacturing and distribution, told Slidstva.Info reporters that he was unaware his brother was communicating with the judge hearing his case: "I heard in court that they were friends. Then I heard that they were, in fact, friends."
At the same time, he admitted that his brother first “tried” to help him, but then “realized that it was a lost cause.”
"Well, there's no conditional discharge, how can it help me? The only thing I can do is go to the front, so they can kill me there or blow off my legs. That's all ," Korvatsky said.
In addition, the man stated that he never personally communicated with Judge Sukharnik.
Vladimir Korvatsky, Roman's brother, told Slidstva.Info reporters that he doesn't understand his connection to his brother and his trial: "The man did something outrageous to himself, and he needs to answer for it."
Journalists from Slidstva.Info asked Irina Sukharnik what connects her to the relatives of the accused Roman Korvatsky.
Judge Irina Sukharnik
"We're just acquaintances. Let me tell you. Regarding the case materials, I can't comment on them because they're still under review. Regarding another issue, the court and other judges have repeatedly considered recusal issues ," the woman stated.
Lawyers for the other defendants repeatedly challenged the judge, citing her friendship and financial ties to relatives of one of the defendants. However, judges of the Kalush City District Court either dismissed the motions or denied them.
“The photographs provided by the applicant contain screenshots of unknown origin, in the absence of any specific information that would allow for the proper identification of all these individuals ,” was one of the reasons for the refusal.
Roman Korvatsky's lawyer told Slidstva.Info reporters that "a formal conflict of interest may exist." He added, "But I don't see one that's real or potential yet."
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According to Anton Zelinsky, advocacy manager at the DEJURE Foundation, if there are circumstances that could lead an outsider to believe the judge is biased, she should recuse herself.
"When we see shared property and two or three instances where the judge and the brother of one of the defendants are at a private event, it's a series of events that can't be dismissed as mere coincidence ," Zelinsky added.
He added that once the trial court renders a verdict, the appeals court may overturn that decision on the grounds that the panel was biased. In that case, Zelinsky said, the case will be retried.
Skelet.Org
On the topic : Legal joke: judge keeps controversial mayor in office, famous for graveyard sand
Irina Sukharnik, judge, Roman Korvatsky, drugs
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