Case description
On March 27, 2023, the HACC found guilty Andrii Leonov, former judge of the Babushkinskyi District Court of Dnipro, who demanded a bribe from an entrepreneur for a favorable court decision. He was imprisoned for 11 years.
Judge Leonov was considering a case on charges of raider seizure of the property of the Dar Farm.
In the spring of 2018, the assistant head of the farm met with Judge Leonov, with whom he had a friendly relationship. The representative said that the head of the Dar Farm wanted to obtain victim status for his company in order to be allowed to participate in court hearings and release the accused from custody. It turned out that he was not guilty of raiding, but was used only for further re-registration of the farm's property to another person. In return for this “service,” the defendant promised to expose the real people involved in the raid.
The judge promised to recognize the Dar Farm as a victim for USD 15,000, to consider the case more quickly, and to deliver a non-custodial sentence against the defendant. After the ruling, law enforcement officers detained the judge right in his office.
The court classified Leonov's actions under Article 368, part 4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to 11 years in prison with confiscation of property and a 3-year ban on holding the position of judge. Leonov was not present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced, and in June 2023, the HACC Appeals Chamber put him on the wanted list.
