Bail was posted for the former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Knyazev, who is suspected of large-scale corruption. The day before, the court reduced it to UAH 18 million. Since the beginning of the investigation in this case, Knyazev's bail has been reduced 7 times. This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Action Center.
Today, on January 31, UAH 18.168 million was paid for Knyazev, and now he will be able to leave the pre-trial detention center.
The AntAC believes it is unlikely that someone from Knyazev's family could have paid the money on their own, as all of his assets have been seized. In December, the lawyers said that the suspect's family could contribute a maximum of UAH 10 million.
The Center also noted that two weeks ago, Knyazev divorced his wife, with whom he had been married for almost 20 years. The wife explained that the actual marriage relationship with her husband has been terminated since May 2023 due to incompatibility of characters. One of the courts in Mykolaiv is already considering a lawsuit on the division of the marital property.
Knyazev has been in custody since May 2023.
Initially, he was granted bail of UAH 107 million, but to date, it has been reduced several times:
- after 2 weeks, the appeal reduced the bail to UAH 75 million;
- in August 2023, the investigating judge reduced Knyazev's bail to UAH 55 million;
- a month later, the appeal reduced the bail to UAH 45 million;
- in October, the investigating judge reduced bail to UAH 35 million;
- in December, bail was reduced to UAH 27 million,
- in the same month, the bail was reduced again: to UAH 20 million;
- yesterday, January 30, 2024, Knyazev's bail was reduced to UAH 18.168 million.
Meanwhile, Automaidan activists have noticed proposals to suspend the consideration of disciplinary cases against Knyazev on the agenda of the High Council of Justice. If Knyazev's disciplinary case is suspended, it will set a dangerous precedent that will help other accused judges stay in office and receive their salaries for years.
