Case description
On July 27, 2023, the HACC convicted Yurii Tsaplienko, the former head of the village council, and legal counsel Viktor Zatsepin. The defendants wanted to receive USD 120,000 in bribes for allocating land to an entrepreneur. Both got 5-year suspended sentences.
In April 2016, Tsaplienko, head of the Bytychi village council in the Sumy region, demanded that the entrepreneur pay USD 120,000 for the decision to transfer 600 hectares of the village council's land to him for growing walnuts. In collusion with Zatsepin, he received a part of the bribe in the amount of UAH 2.5 million in the form of counterfeit banknotes.
By the way, the accused, Yurii Tsaplienko, is the father of a well-known Ukrainian TV journalist and war correspondent, Andrii Tsaplienko.
Initially, the actions of the defendants were classified under Article 368, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, under which they faced up to 10 years in prison, but later the qualification was changed to Article 15, part 2, Article 190, part 4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The HACC sentenced Tsaplienko and Zatsepin to 5-year suspended sentences with a probationary period of 3 years.
The SAPO prosecutor filed a complaint against this verdict. The HACC Appeals Chamber opened appeal proceedings.
