Case description
On May 25, 2022, the HACC found the former “shooter judge” Oleksii Buran guilty, who, together with lawyer Andrii Selikhov, demanded a bribe of UAH 500,000 for a positive court decision to recover a debt. They got 5-year suspended sentences.
In early February 2016, lawyer Selikhov was asked to help collect a USD 62,000 debt under a promissory note. Selikhov promised to help obtain a favorable court decision in a civil lawsuit and estimated such “services” at UAH 500,000.
Judge Oleksii Buran delivered the decision in the Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa. After the lawyer received the full amount of the bribe, he handed over a smaller portion of UAH 120,000 to the judge and misappropriated UAH 380,000. On the same day, Selikhov was detained in a café.
But the detention of Judge Buran was a bit more interesting. When NABU detectives came to his home, the judge did not open the door and started shooting at them with a traumatic weapon. He shouted that he had a grenade and escaped through the window, using the status of judicial immunity. Later, it became known that Buran had cut his wrists before the search.
In March 2016, the Verkhovna Rada authorized the detention of the judge. Interim measures were imposed on both defendants, and later they concluded plea agreements.
The court classified Selikhov's actions under Article 27, part 5; Article 368, part 3; Article 27, part 4; Article 15, part 2; Article 369, part 3; Article 190, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The former “shooter judge” was charged only with Article 368, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as in May 2022 he was exempted from liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations in terms of shooting at NABU detectives. Based on the plea agreements, both got 5-year suspended sentences with a probationary period of 3 years, and Buran was also banned from holding court positions for 3 years.
