Judge Ruslan Yukhimuk, who took a bribe, was in prison for 10 years
Ruslan Yukhimuk, a former judge of the Severodonetsk city court in Luhansk region, was found guilty of taking a bribe, forging a document, and illegally storing ammunition. The information was obtained from the VAKS verdict by the editors of 368.media.
In 2015, Yukhimuk, the judge who took a bribe, handled a case from the prosecutor's office to decide the remaining prison sentence for a convict and to move him to the Starobilsk pre-trial detention center. The man was sentenced to five years in prison and partial property confiscation. He served his sentence in Petrovsky correctional colony No. 24. After the colony was taken over by the LPR, the convict was released on parole. The Ukrainian prosecutor's office, not recognizing the decisions of the “LPR” authorities, started to enforce the remaining sentence.
The convict went to the court and met an acquaintance in the hallway who, upon learning about the situation, offered to help, claiming that the judge was his old friend. Later, the judge did indeed agree not to grant the prosecutor's request for a bribe. At the same time, the middleman stated that the payment should be $2,000.
The man remembered that he had a car under arrest that he could sell. As a result, he was asked to request the release of the arrest, providing a fake document for this. It concerned an agreement that the convict had sold the car to his mother before it was arrested, but the new owner had not managed to re-register it. Then the man also mentioned the arrest of the apartment. He had to pay $1,000 to cancel the property seizures. In total, including the decision to file a prosecutor's submission, it was $4,000.
The person approached the SBU and then transferred the money in several parts to a middleman who shared it with the judge. Later, marked bills were seized from the judge. During a court hearing, the judge spoke to the defendant, saying, “Handle it. You know how.” Earlier, in a similar case, a court granted the prosecution's request against the defendant's accomplice. Therefore, the man understood that if he didn't provide a bribe, he would go back to jail.
The attackers were exposed back in mid-December 2015. The judge's office was searched. 11 cartridges of the 1951 model were found at his house, stored without the legal permission.
But due to judicial immunity, Yuhimuk couldn't be arrested. So, on January 23, 2016, he left Ukraine through the Prosyano checkpoint and didn't come back. Only on April 19, 2016, did the Verkhovna Rada authorize the judge's detention.
Yuhimuk's accomplice made a plea agreement and was sentenced to 3 years in prison in 2017. His testimony formed the basis of the case against the judge. However, he testified in 2018 at the Artyomovsky city district court in Donetsk region, which was handling the case at the time. A month after giving evidence, he left Ukraine. Therefore, Yuhimuk was tried in absentia, with his right to defense ensured by the presence of a lawyer.
Later, the judge's case was transferred to the newly created Supreme Anti-Corruption Court, which began consideration from the beginning. VAKS agreed to accept as evidence the audio recording of the testimony of the judge's accomplice, since it was not possible to ensure his reappearance at the hearing. In 2018, this man already had the citizenship of another state and subsequently went abroad. After the start of a full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, the ministries of foreign affairs of other countries call on their citizens to refrain from visiting this territory.
The court considers that 5 years ago the witness could not have imagined that, as a result of judicial reform, he would have to testify to another court. So he considered that he had fulfilled the obligations entrusted to him by the plea agreement.
The Anti-Corruption Court recognized Yukhimuk's guilt as proven, appointing him 10 years in prison for the totality of crimes with complete confiscation of property and a 3-year ban on holding office judges.
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