Former MP Derkach to be tried for treason under special procedure

21 February 05:40

The High Anti-Corruption Court has ruled to conduct special court proceedings against a former MP accused of high treason. This was reported by the citing the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

The MP of the III-IX convocations will be tried under the procedure of special court proceedings (trial in absentia). The MP’s name and surname have not been specified, but earlier media reported that it was Andrii Derkach.

on 20 February 2024, a panel of HACCJ judges granted the SAPO prosecutor’s motion to initiate special court proceedings against Derkach.

According to the investigation, in 2019-2022, the MP received at least $567,000 from Russian law enforcement and intelligence agencies for subversive activities against Ukraine, including discrediting Ukraine in the international arena, deteriorating diplomatic relations with the United States, and complicating Ukraine’s integration into the European Union and NATO.

The ruling comes into force on 20 February and is not subject to appeal. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 19.03.2024.

Derkach case

on 27 October 2022, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine arrested then MP Andrii Derkach in absentia. He is accused of receiving more than half a million dollars from Russian officials for destabilising activities against Ukraine between 2019 and 2022.

In early September 2022, Derkach was put on the wanted list. In May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved new sanctions against 37 people, including former MP Andrii Derkach.

on 13 January 2023, the Verkhovna Rada supported an initiative to strip Derkach of his parliamentary mandate. At the end of November, law enforcement officers brought the case against Derkach to court. On charges of treason and illicit enrichment, he could face up to fifteen years in prison and confiscation of property.

Дзвенислава Карплюк
Editor