The Nikolai Martynenko case. The High Anti-Corruption Court is accelerating its investigation.
The Anti-Corruption Court has decided to expedite the examination of evidence in two cases involving a former member of parliament.
The Supreme Anti-Corruption Court ordered the prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the defense to provide written explanations regarding the evidence in two cases against former MP Mykola Martynenko and others for embezzling funds from state-owned enterprises NNEGC Energoatom and Voskhod GOK.
The panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court made such decisions on September 28, reports “Word and deed».
The decisions indicate that the merits of the case began on December 5, 2019. The examination of the prosecution's documents began on May 14, 2020. According to established procedure, after the prosecutor read out a specific document, defense participants commented on it. In subsequent hearings, when the defense presented its views on the prosecution's documents, the participants referred to documents from various volumes that had not yet been read out by the prosecutor.
Therefore, on July 14, 2020, the court established a procedure for examining evidence, according to which the prosecutor was required to disclose from the documents what they deemed necessary to support their case. This opportunity was then granted to the defense. On the same day and on July 16, the defense began filing repeated challenges to the lawyers, as well as motions that amounted to disagreement with this procedure. In some of these motions, the court concluded that the participants had abused their procedural rights, including the right to challenge, and therefore dismissed them.
Furthermore, on July 16, the defense continued to file various motions without the presiding judge's permission and interrupted her. The court saw this behavior as a concerted effort by the parties to delay the trial, as the presiding judge pointed out. Therefore, the court initiated disciplinary action against the lawyers, but this was denied. In subsequent court hearings, the defense continued this behavior, and on July 20, the defendants withdrew several of their attorneys.
Subsequent court hearings were essentially not held due to the failure of defense attorneys to appear at the hearing or the appointment of new attorneys. On October 20, 2020, during the court hearing one of the defenders demonstratively left the courtroom, which led to the hearing being postponed again. No further court hearings were ever held.
The court noted that in 38 scheduled court hearings since July 20, 2020, evidence was not examined in any of them due to the aforementioned circumstances, which were caused solely by the conduct of the defense. At the same time, the court took all possible measures, as provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, to ensure the criminal proceedings. The court stated that the case must be heard within a reasonable time. That is, a prompt trial in the event of a person's guilt ensures the achievement of the goal of punishment and the fulfillment of the objectives of general and special prevention. However, in the event of a person's innocence, a lengthy trial subjects them to unnecessary procedural coercion.
In light of the above, the court, on its own initiative, decided to oblige both the defense and prosecution to provide written documentary evidence, including audio and video recordings, and physical evidence from the prosecution, to ensure that the parties to the criminal proceedings comply with the reasonable time requirement. The prosecutor must do so by November 14, 2022, and the defense by January 10, 2023.
The court also ordered the SAP prosecutor to submit a motion to the court to question prosecution witnesses by November 14, 2022. The defense is also required to submit its written arguments regarding the prosecutor's motion by January 10, 2023.
As a reminder, former MP Martynenko is charged in two cases. According to NABU detectives, Martynenko and his accomplices orchestrated a scheme to embezzle funds for the purchase of uranium concentrate by VostGOK. The company is supposed to extract the raw material itself, but management purchased it abroad through the Austrian shell company Steuermann for $17,2 million.
The former MP and his accomplices are also suspected of embezzling €6,4 million from the state-owned enterprise NNEGC Energoatom. According to detectives, the Panamanian firm Bradcrest Investments received kickbacks from NNEGC Energoatom's Ukrainian contracts. The ultimate beneficiary of this company, as the prosecution states in court, is Martynenko himself.
DOSSIER: Nikolai Martynenko: Why is the "nuclear oligarch" being so actively dumped?
Former MP Mykola Martynenko has been granted bail of 25 million hryvnias.
OGKhK won a $7,4 million lawsuit against Bollwerk, which is linked to Martynenko.
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!