Case description
On August 19, 2022, the HACC convicted Dmytro Polishchuk, a Rivne lawyer, and Anatolii Onopriichuk, his accomplice, of receiving a USD 3,500 bribe to influence judges to make a favorable decision in a civil case. Both were exempted from punishment because the statute of limitations had expired.
In the fall of 2015, Onopriichuk was approached by a person who had been deprived of parental rights in absentia by a court to help the latter influence the appellate judges to overturn the decision. Onopriichuk agreed and made a deal with lawyer Polishchuk, who knew Oleh Plevak, the head of the Zdolbuniv District Court in the Rivne region.
The head of the court agreed to “help” for USD 2,000, and then Polishchuk and Onopriichuk received a total of USD 3,500 in bribes.
In March 2016, the indictment was transferred to a local court in Khmelnytskyi, and until 2019, it was wandering around two more courts until it ended up in the HACC.
The court qualified the actions of Polishchuk under Article 369-2, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and Onopriichuk was considered an accomplice under Article 27, part 5; Article 369-2, part 3 of the Criminal Code. Both were sentenced to 4 and 3 years in prison, but were released due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. The case against the head of the court was closed due to his death.
The appellate instance upheld the verdict. Subsequently, the case will be considered by the cassation instance.
