Former head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Artem Sytnyk, was removed from the register of corrupt persons. This is confirmed by search data in the register on the NAZK website.
Sytnyk was entered into this register in December 2019 after the decision of the appeals court. The reason was his violation of the restrictions established by law for receiving gifts. Now his name is missing from the list, probably because of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, which sided with the former head of NABU. The ECtHR recognized that adding Sytnyk to the public register of corrupt persons violated his right to a fair trial and respect for private life.
The European Court emphasized that a judge in a national court could be dependent on the prosecutor’s office, which had an impact on his status in parallel proceedings. The decision on guilt was made without sufficient evidence, and the inclusion of Sytnyk in the register of corrupt persons without a specified term was considered a disproportionate interference in private life.
In addition, the ECtHR noted that the case against Sytnyk could have a political basis, in particular as a form of pressure in response to the NABU investigation into the son of the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov, and one of the prosecutors. The court recognized that Ukraine violated the Convention, and the decision may become the basis for compensation or revision of domestic decisions.
Sytnyk emphasized that he suffered material and non-material losses, as well as expenses for legal assistance, but considers the fact of establishing a violation of the Convention to be sufficient as a form of compensation. The ECtHR agreed with this position and did not award him additional payments.
We will remind you that in September 2019, the court found Sytnyk guilty of an administrative violation while on vacation in the Rivne region and imposed a fine of 3.4 thousand hryvnias. He was accused of violating restrictions on civil servants accepting gifts. The relevant article (Article 172-5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) provides for punishment in the form of a fine of 100 to 200 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens with confiscation of the gift (1,700–3,400 UAH).
After the decision of the Court of Appeal, Sytnyk appealed it to the European Court of Human Rights.
