Solomiansky District Court of Kyiv has canceled the obligation for People’s Front MP Maksym Polyakov to wear a GPS ankle monitor, the parliamentarian’s lawyer, Petro Boiko, has told the Ukrayinska Pravda media outlet.
“Yes, the court decided to remove an electronic bracelet. Today, the court analyzed the risks and realized that the risks have significantly decreased. Examinations have to be conducted and documents on [MP Boryslav] Rozenblat [who is being tried in the same ‘amber’ case as Poliakov] need to obtained from the Federal Republic of Germany,” the lawyer said.
According to him, the court concluded that since there are just “simple investigative actions,” excessive obligations are not needed.
Boiko said that the obligations in force included bail, visits to the detective, the prosecutor or to the court, the refusal to communicate with witnesses, the transfer of passports to the pre-trial investigation bodies and not leaving Ukraine without permission.
As reported, Poliakov is suspected of committing acts under Part 4, Article 368 (obtaining undue benefit) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On June 19, 2017, detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), under the procedural leadership of prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), detained seven people involved in extortion and obtaining undue benefits for assistance to a foreign company in carrying out amber mining in Ukraine.
The investigation established that the detainees, acting in the interests of MPs Polyakov and Rozenblat, received a bribe from a representative of the foreign company for a total of more than $300,000 so that they could prepare bills in the field of amber mining and submit them to the Verkhovna Rada for taking decisions in favor of this foreign company.
On June 21, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko requested the parliament should give its consent to prosecution, detention and arrest of these two parliamentarians. On July 11, the Verkhovna Rada agreed to prosecute Polyakov, but refused to ensure his detention and arrest.
On July 21, Kyiv’s Solomiansky District Court remanded Polyakov into pretrial custody, setting bail at Hr 304,000, in addition to setting several requirements. The court also obliged the MP to wear an ankle monitor and forbade him from leaving Kyiv and Uman (Cherkasy region) without permission of investigators, prosecutors or the court, as well as to turn over his foreign passports.
