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Ukraine launches criminal case against Constitutional Court judges

Verkhovna Rada member Yaroslav Yurchishin earlier revealed that he appealed to Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova asking her to launch a pre-trial probe against the judges on the article of forceful change or toppling of constitutional order

Protest outside the building of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Anna Marchenko/TASS

Protest outside the building of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

© Anna Marchenko/TASS

KIEV, October 30. /TASS/. A criminal case against the Constitutional Court judges was opened in Ukraine on the article of plot to forcefully topple constitutional order or seize state power, Verkhovna Rada (parliament) member Yaroslav Yurchishin inormed Friday.

"Proceedings were launched under my petition into possible collusion of the constitutional judges to seize power. It will help to remove judges complicit in the wrongdoing without destroying the institute of Constitutional Court to then later fill it with candidates through competition," he wrote on Facebook.

Earlier, the lawmaker revealed that he appealed to Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova asking her to launch a pre-trial probe against the judges on the article of forceful change or toppling of constitutional order. The article can entail a punishment of up to 10 years behind bars. Yurchishin made the appeal after the Constitutional Court ruled that a lot of provisions of the anti-corruption law ran counter to the constitution, in particular the requirement to publish digital declarations by officials and their inspection. On October 29, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told an urgent meeting of the National Security and Defense Council that Kiev would lose the West’s financial support due to this decision.

Zelensky later introduced a bill to the parliament to sack the judges and recognize their decision null and void.

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