Consideration of the case of the former head of the Supreme Court Knyazyev: "I have never seen Zhevaho"

Consideration of the case of the former head of the Supreme Court Knyazyev: "I have never seen Zhevaho"

The High Anti-Corruption Court continues to consider the case against the former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazyev.

This is reported by "Sudomii Reporter".

According to the prosecution, the former head of the court received a bribe of $1.8 million for himself and other Supreme Court judges from businessman Kostyantyn Zhevaho for preserving his ownership rights to a package of shares in Poltava Mining and Processing Plant.

Currently, recordings of conversations from lawyer Oleh Horetskyi’s office are being studied. In some of them, the interlocutor is believed to be Kostyantyn Zhevaho.

At the beginning of the summer, the court refused to continue broadcasting the hearings on YouTube because the materials of covert investigative actions, which contain profanity and private conversations, were being reproduced. The presiding judge also asked journalists present in the courtroom not to publish significant excerpts of the recordings word for word so as not to influence future testimonies of witnesses.

— The idea of cooperation between Horetskyi and Zhevaho arose at the beginning of 2023. The first direct contact took place on March 6, when the head of security service of Poltava GZK came to Horetskyi and expressed specific proposals on how to handle the case, which was under consideration by the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court… The possibility of solving other matters through corrupt means was also discussed… Zhevaho proposes other topics, apart from the consideration of the Grand Chamber. To which Knyazyev agrees, — explained prosecutor Vitaliy Hrechishkyn.

The court more fully reconstructs those excerpts regarding which Knyazyev claims the prosecutor takes statements out of context that pertain to entirely different cases.

— A vast movement of packages, money, and cases worth hundreds of millions. If these phrases are taken out of context, you can create any story, — says the former head of the Supreme Court.

Knyazyev drew the court’s attention to the transcript of Horetskyi’s conversation with businessman Serhiy Tihipko about defense strategy in a criminal case. The content of the conversation was not disclosed at the hearing, but Knyazyev cites it as an example of "systematic violation of lawyer-client privilege" by NABU detectives.

— It is hard to listen to 9,000 hours of audio even with the help of artificial intelligence. But many clients with serious names, and all this was recorded continuously in the lawyer’s office, — Knyazyev reported.

On another occasion, Horetskyi was speaking with an unidentified law enforcement officer about the transfer of documents that constitute an operational-investigative secret. According to Knyazyev, this concerns the "distribution of funds between the prosecutor and law enforcement agencies". Also, Horetskyi allegedly named judges of the Supreme Court with whom he resolved issues, but at Knyazyev’s request, they were not announced.

— Look, yesterday I went to the head of the MID department (Main Investigation Department — ed.). Where your managers, your directors, and deputy directors were invited for questioning, – Horetskyi tells Zhevaho on March 10, 2023. — We had a very good conversation with him. Besides, during the previous visit, he very warmly welcomed your managers for questioning. Your director even heard the call from the head himself. When the investigator was told: "Be very loyal to these people". Accordingly, I have now returned, and I came to him to thank him. Well and further to discuss the possibility of further cooperation. He surprisingly confirmed his readiness for this cooperation. Moreover, there is a possibility to unite three cases - take one from Poltava and two from here. The fourth, which is in the SBI, is another direction…

Knyazyev stated that he had never personally seen Zhevaho in his life and had not heard his voice. But later, allegedly comparing a recording with Zhevago’s voice sample, it seemed to him that the voice was not similar. 

In a conversation with Horetskyi, notary Kyrylo Horburov expressed dissatisfaction that someone neither wants to do anything themselves nor lets others do it ("I won’t give it myself, and I won’t let someone else"). Therefore, he said someone else should be prepared instead of "him". Knyazyev assumes that they are discussing him. 

Defender Oleksandr Hotin claims that it appears as if Horburov was planning some kind of provocation to remove Knyazyev from the position of head of the Supreme Court. The lawyer says Horburov might have been taking money in Knyazyev’s name without his knowledge. 

— Horburov, in cooperation with NABU, was engaging in systematic corrupt crimes together with Horetskyi. Like an octopus, they covered half the country. This also needs to be evaluated. Detectives know that Horburov committed crimes and do not react to this, and then Horburov is involved as a witness, and similarly with Horetskyi. We can say that Horetskyi and Horburov managed to get away with dozens of documented criminal episodes which have not been given any evaluation by law enforcement agencies, — Hotin pointed out.