Judges of the VAKS are accused of carrying out tasks for the NABU.

They are suspected of carrying out the tasks of the SAP prosecutors and NABU detectives. This was stated by lawyer Taras Baranov during the consideration of a complaint against judges of the VAKS, Sergei Bodnar, Viktor Pankulich, and Igor Panaida, by the High Council of Justice.

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“The VAKS judges take an active position, effectively aimed at fulfilling the prosecution's function – assisting the SAP prosecutors and NABU detectives. The petition submitted by the judges of the VAKS Appellate Chamber to the High Council of Justice reveals the approach adhered to in the High Anti-Corruption Court. The VAKS judges follow a post-totalitarian, post-Soviet approach, which involves facilitating the prosecution – SAP and NABU, fulfilling their task,” emphasized Baranov.

Lawyer Tatyana Popovskaya expressed surprise that the VAKS judges are delaying the process in the HJC.

“The VAKS judges are deliberately dragging out the disciplinary process. I am surprised by such actions from judges. Usually, they accuse lawyers of abusing their rights, but now they are doing the same, meaning they are abusing their own rights,” she noted.

According to the materials being reviewed by the HJC, at the end of 2022, the panel of judges of the VAKS was considering an appeal from the SAP prosecutor against the decision of the investigating judge of the VAKS. The decision denied the NABU detective's request for a preventive measure in the form of pre-trial detention for Nina Mezentseva. During the court session, an air raid alert was sounded. The panel of judges decided to adjourn and allow participants in the court process to go to shelter. Upon returning to the courtroom, the lawyers found out that the VAKS judges had considered the NABU detective's petition without the defense attorneys of the accused.

At the last meeting, the High Council of Justice was unable to make a decision on the complaint against the judges and decided to postpone the decision on the disciplinary case. In fact, it is for an indefinite period.

As reported earlier, according to a survey by the "Rating" group, the judicial authority, represented in particular by VAKS, has the lowest level of trust among Ukrainians: 72% of citizens do not trust it.

Domestic lawyers have repeatedly pointed out the accusatory bias of VAKS and its support for NABU and SAP, and this was essentially acknowledged by Gizo Uglava, the former first deputy head of NABU: “We worked (with VAKS, – ed.) as a single entity. Of course, for this, we faced harsh criticism, and we were accused of an unprecedented concentration of power.”