Ukrainian High Council of Justice justifies another judge in Automaidan case

The High Council of Justice of Ukraine has acquitted a judge, who deprived Automaidan activists of driving licenses.

Automaidan lawyer Roman Maselko posted this on his Facebook page.

“July 14, the High Council of Justice of Ukraine made the decision that judge of the Shevchenkivsky District Court in Kyiv Koziatnyk, who deprived Nina Zenych and another four drivers of driving licenses for the trip to Yanukovych’s residence in Mezhyhirya based on falsified documents, is innocent and cannot be dismissed,” Maselko wrote.

He said that he had dealt with this case at the time of Maidan protests.

“Zenych is accused of not stopping where she was not present. The court hearing lasted for three hours. We have provided exhaustive evidence of driver’s innocence. Six (!!!) witnesses gave evidence and clearly explained to the judge that they had not been present where they had been allegedly ordered to stop. The traffic policeman was also questioned and most often answered ‘I do not remember’ and “I will not answer’,” Maselko said.

He stressed that ruling of judge Koziatnyk “had a special cynicism” because Zenych has two young children. One child is disabled and constantly needs to be transported to doctors.

He focuses on the role of the High Council of Justice. The High Qualification Commission of Judges decided that judge Koziatnyk had broken the oath and should be dismissed, while the High Council of Justice ruled that the judge had not violated anything.

“This is very alarming. The High Council of Justice decided to demonstrate particularly soft approach to the judges… If it goes further, then only a small percentage from among 330 judges, who considered Maidan cases, will be dismissed,” he wrote.