Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Yurchenko has been sentenced to nine years in prison for bribery, a panel of judges at Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court ruled on Friday, September 11.
According to Ukraine's Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP), Yurchenko, a member of the ninth convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, was found guilty of crimes under Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code, which covers accepting an offer, promise or receipt of an improper benefit by an official, and Part 2 of Article 369-2, which covers abuse of influence.
He was released from serving punishment on the abuse-of-influence charge because the statute of limitations had expired. SAP said the court had reclassified that part of the case, moving it from Part 4 of Article 27 and Part 4 of Article 369, which cover offering, promising or providing an improper benefit to an official, down to Part 2 of Article 369-2.
The sentence
The court handed Yurchenko a final sentence of nine years in prison, together with a three-year ban on holding positions tied to the performance of state or local government functions, and ordered confiscation of his property.
Pending the verdict taking legal effect, judges left unchanged the bail measure already applied to the lawmaker, set at more than 3 million hryvnias. The verdict becomes legally binding after 30 days if it is not appealed.
The bribery scheme
SAP said the pretrial investigation established that Yurchenko had, in a veiled manner, asked through an intermediary for $13,000 in improper benefits in exchange for submitting proposed amendments to a draft law called "On Waste Management," and a further $200,000 to bribe other MPs on the relevant parliamentary committee to secure their votes for his proposals.
In mid-August 2020, law enforcement officers recorded the transfer and receipt of the first part of these funds through the intermediary. A second transfer had been planned for August 26-27, 2020, but the special operation was halted before it went ahead.
The intermediary, described as an unofficial assistant to the lawmaker, was notified of suspicion on September 10, 2020, while Yurchenko himself was notified on September 17, 2020. The indictment was sent to court in August 2021.
Expulsion and denial
SAP noted, citing UNIAN, that Yurchenko was expelled from the "Servant of the People" parliamentary faction in September 2020 amid the case. After his release from pretrial detention, he said he had not committed any crime and hinted at a "garbage mafia," adding that he intended to prove he had nothing to do with the alleged offenses.
Yurchenko later said he had no plans to give up his parliamentary mandate and would continue working in the Verkhovna Rada.
