The Grand Chamber of Ukraine’s Supreme Court was set to continue the trial against the scandalous ex-chief judge of the Administrative District Court of Kyiv (ADCK), Pavlo Vovk, on 9 April. Before the start of the hearing, a court administrator told several journalists that there were no seats left in the courtroom and refused to let them in, reports Slidstvo.Info, whose journalist Liza Bykova was one of the reporters not allowed inside.
“I arrived 15 minutes before the hearing was to begin. They refused to let me in because there were no free seats, but they told me to wait after I showed them my journalist badge. 10 minutes later, the administrator came back and said that she could not help me because the courtroom was full. Although later I received photos clearly showing that there were empty seats. The administrator met us; me and other journalists (with Watchers, among others) tried to persuade her, to which she replied that she might let us in after the judges come to a decision,” said Liza Bykova.
Other journalists, activists, and even EU diplomats were also not allowed in, DEJURE Foundation co-founder Mykhailo Zhernakov reported in a Facebook post. The DEJURE Foundation also shared a photo of the courtroom, showing some desks standing vacant during the hearing, with the journalists.
“Mamma mia, here we go again. The Supreme Court does not allow people and the press into the courtroom, saying, ‘there are no seats left.’ They tried to prevent diplomats from the EU and at least three of its member states from entering — that didn’t work, thank God. The ‘no seats left’ are in front of me right now. Several of them. There is plenty of room for the press too. What is fascinating is that when a whole crowd of shady characters came to support the pro-Russian judge Otrosh back in December, additional seats were brought in for them,” Zhernakov wrote.
Later, the court’s press service said that the seats in the photo were only “empty” because people could not get to them thanks to a camera blocking the aisle.
Supreme Court press secretary Olha Tuyeva explained that journalists in the courtroom were standing, so the photo gave off the impression that there were no empty seats. She shared her own photo as confirmation.
Pavlo Vovk himself was absent at the hearing and represented by a lawyer. Due to the change of judge, the trial in the case had to begin from the start. Finally, the court adjourned, postponing the hearing to 18 June, at 10:00 a.m.
Pavlo Vovk stands accused of systematic interference in the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges, embezzling of state-owned housing, and using a fictitious status to travel abroad during the full-scale invasion.
