Appeals court to review 9-year prison sentence for MP Yurchenko

Start of verdict review at the Higher Anti-Corruption Court

The appellate panel of the Higher Anti-Corruption Court (HAC) has ruled to open proceedings. This was done on the basis of appeals filed by both the defence of People's Deputy Oleksandr Yurchenko and the prosecutor of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. The court instance must now examine these appeals and review the decision of the lower instance.

Details of the first-instance court's decision

On 11 September, the first-instance court handed down a verdict finding Oleksandr Yurchenko guilty. He was sentenced to nine years of imprisonment. Additionally, the court decided to confiscate his property and banned him from holding certain positions for three years. At present, this verdict has not yet entered into legal force.

Circumstances of the case and the charges

According to the prosecution, the People's Deputy demanded money in exchange for influencing the legislative process. Specifically, through intermediary Ivan Fishchenko, Yurchenko demanded 13,000 dollars for making amendments to a bill concerning waste management. Furthermore, according to the investigation, a further 200,000 dollars was intended to bribe deputies of the relevant committee of the Council.