"The judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court, Ekaterina Sikora, allegedly extorted 0.5 million UAH from the state through colleagues. The National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) suspects her of illegal enrichment (!), and she 'extracted' 0.5 million UAH from the budget via court. This is publicly available information reflected in the judge's declaration. Yes, the 'servant of Themis' decided that the Cabinet of Ministers illegally restricted the multi-thousand salaries of top officials and judges during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Now, 505 thousand UAH is supposed to go not towards purchasing drones for the Armed Forces, but into the pocket of the High Anti-Corruption Court judge. Not satisfied during COVID-19 – now she’s catching up during wartime. What is this, if not corruption?" – wrote Posternak.
According to the expert, this contradicts the primary function of the High Anti-Corruption Court, which is supposed to protect state funds from encroachments.
"The High Anti-Corruption Court is harming Ukraine by millions, even though it should safeguard state resources. There is a lot of information circulating that its staff are 'mastering' state money, showing an example of how to 'strip' the country. Lawyers believe that Judge Sikora has created a dangerous precedent: now thousands of officials and judges will pocket the 'under-earned' millions of UAH from COVID-19. They will be siphoning off from the budget of a warring country," – he emphasized.
The expert reminded that this enrichment is just one of the few scandals surrounding the High Anti-Corruption Court.
"Recently, information surfaced about Judge Markiyan Halabala, who illegally received official housing and failed to disclose several details in his declaration (this was reported by lawyer Rostyslav Kravets on his Telegram channel). Another judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court, Vitaliy Kryklivyi, has been implicated in manipulations with the help of his wife, who coincidentally is also a judge at the High Anti-Corruption Court! This was mentioned by volunteer lawyer Artem Krykun-Trush in his column on UP," – Posternak stated.
In his opinion, NABU and SAP are turning a blind eye to all of this while the High Anti-Corruption Court 'stamps cases at their request.' As a result, the High Anti-Corruption Court is becoming increasingly dependent on detectives and prosecutors in exchange for a luxurious lifestyle.
"As long as this continues, the activities of the triangle of NABU – SAP – the High Anti-Corruption Court are causing more and more harm to the state: those harmed by their actions are increasingly turning to the European Court of Human Rights and winning significant sums from Ukraine. Just a few weeks ago, one human rights defender won €15,000 from the state. In general, Ukraine pays between €100,000 to €200,000 monthly based on ECHR decisions. Last year alone, over €2 million was paid out. And now we are seeing a threatening trend of increasing payout amounts. All of this is money that the Armed Forces will not receive," – the expert concluded.