Agriculture Minister Solskyi taken into custody
The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine chose a pre-trial restriction for the Minister of Agrarian Policy, Mykola Solskyi — he was ordered to be detained for 60 days with the possibility of bail of over UAH 75 million ($1.9 million), reported a hromadske journalist from the courtroom.
According to the court decision, Solskyi will remain in custody until June 24. If he posts bail of UAH 75 million ($1.9 million), a number of procedural obligations will be applied to the official:
- appear in court on every summons,
- not to leave Kyiv without the permission of the prosecutor/judge,
- not to communicate with witnesses (in particular, his deputy Markiyan Dmytrasevych, who is also suspected within the scope of this proceeding),
- hand in documents for travel abroad.
The prosecution filed a request for custody with the possibility of a bail of slightly more than UAH 200 million ($5 million). This was explained by various risks, in particular escape. For example, Solskyi, as the father of three minor children and as a high-ranking official who goes on business trips abroad, can freely leave Ukraine, realizing that he faces real punishment within the scope of this case.
Instead, lawyer Nazar Kulchytskyi emphasized that such risks are unfounded. He said that the minister regularly travels abroad and always returns. There was a case when he left the border not for a business trip, and it was for treatment.
Regarding the bail, the defense emphasized that the said sum was "unaffordable" for Solskyi. The lawyers said that the data on income, which was named by prosecutor Anastasiya Andronova, do not correspond to reality.
During the court session, a number of people were present, including heads of public associations, who volunteered to stand surety for Solskyi.
News details
Prosecutor Anastasiya Andronova, during the justification of the charges, noted that the alleged initial intentions to commit land crimes originated with Solskyi, who "actually directed the actions of other co-conspirators." She considers Solskyi to be the organizer of this scheme.
In particular, the prosecutor claimed that Solskyi directed the actions of his deputy Markiyan Dmytrasevych, who is also suspected in this proceeding. To confirm this, the law enforcement officers found correspondence between the mentioned officials, which allegedly confirm this.
And the prosecution provided confirmation that Dmytrasevych introduced himself in some correspondence as follows: "This is Markiyan, from Mykola Solskyi."
The defense, on the other hand, emphasizes that the seizure of property, which the prosecutor's office is talking about, did not take place, and the land of the military was leased on favorable terms. Also, lawyer Nazar Kulchytskyi points out the lack of evidence of Solskyi's motive for allegedly committing the crime.
The defense attorney emphasized that there are allegedly no signs of both the commission of the crime itself, which the prosecutors point out, and Mykola Solskyi's involvement in it.
During the court session, the air raid alert sounded three times, however, according to the decision of the participants in the process, the election of the pre-trial restriction was continued without a break.
Background
On April 23, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau reported that the ex-chairman of the Verkhovna Rada's Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy. and the current minister were found guilty of expropriating state land worth UAH 291 million ($7.3 million) and attempting to expropriate land worth another UAH 190 million ($4.8 million).
According to the investigation, the participants of the scheme ensured the destruction of documents on the basis of which two state-owned enterprises in Sumy Oblast had the right to permanent use of land. Due to their absence, the regional State GeoCadastre department drew up an act on the arbitrary occupation of these plots.
Later, with the help of controlled officials of the regional State GeoCadastre department, plots were transferred to the ownership of predetermined citizens under the guise of realizing their right to free land. At the same time, the condition of obtaining land ownership was the signing of an agreement on its lease to a private agricultural holding even before the moment of acquisition.
The organizer of the scheme, the current minister, two handlers from the State GeoCadastre and the person who facilitated the commission of the crime were charged.
Solskyi himself stated that the case concerns the period of 2017-2018, when he was a lawyer, and not a minister or chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy. He assured that he would be as open as possible to establish the truth in this matter.
- Share: