Judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine distort the practice of the ECHR, preferring the prosecution, even in the presence of a 100% alibi - Honorary Lawyer of Ukraine

"I can no longer observe it in silence! The High Anti-Corruption Court is literally dismantling both defense attorneys' legal assistance function and fundamental human rights," – stated Semen Khanin.

According to Khanin, investigative judges are distorting European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) precedents, arguing that in the absence of a 100% alibi, "the person in question could have committed an offense."

He further claimed that investigative judges of the HACC automatically deem all prosecution evidence proper, admissible, and truthful while disregarding the defense’s arguments when determining preventive measures.

"With such an approach from judges, every single suspicion tends to become justified, even in the presence of a 100 percent alibi," – he wrote.

He emphasized that these days investigating judges of the HACC have turned into a farce the process of clarification of the validity of suspicion during the pre-trial investigation.

"And this, of course, does not meet the objectives of criminal proceedings. But de facto impunity gives the investigating judges a feeling of some kind of arbitrariness," Khanin concluded.