Journalists were denied access to a High Anti-Corruption Court hearing choosing a measure of restraint for Serhiy Duka, SBU’s former first deputy chief of National Statehood Protection who is a suspect in the “Carthage case”, Espreso reports.
According to the outlet’s correspondent Kateryna Halko, the hearing was moved to another courtroom without a warning to around 60 journalists who were waiting for it to begin in a different room. Media workers were not admitted to the courtroom where the proceedings were under way, on the grounds that there were no seats left. The hearing was not livestreamed, either.
The Anti-Corruption Action Centre reported on Telegram that HACC judge Volodymyr Voronko had decided to hold the hearing in camera without putting the matter up for discussion.
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SAPO prosecutor Mykola Karas, however, told journalists that the investigating judge had gone to the deliberation room to consider a motion to dismiss the prosecutor, and that no decision on holding the trial in camera had been made and no grounds for doing so had been stated. As for the lack of seats, the prosecutor remarked that there had been enough room in the courtroom.
According to the NABU investigation, Serhiy Duka (referred to by the nickname “Akim” on the tapes) may have been shielding members of a crime group from the attention of law enforcement in exchange for undue profit.
On 4 November, NABU and SAPO announced they had exposed a crime group named “U420” whose members had consistently shared their illegal profit with senior law enforcement officials in exchange for unhindered operation of scam call centres, drug trafficking, financial crimes, and crimes against people’s lives and health.
Intercepted conversations between group members, released by NABU and SAPO, showed that U420 members had planned to douse Denys Bihus in acid over his investigation.
In April 2026, Bihus.Info journalist Svitlana Stetsenko, who faced online harassment following the release of her investigation “The Truth About U420 ‘Souvenirs’: Expertise Findings”, contacted the police over the dangerous psychotropic substances her investigation revealed, but did not report the harassment and verbal threats targeting her.
Denys Bihus responded to the tapes on 5 November, saying he was surprised to hear about the planned attack on him.
Blogger Ihor “Lachen” Lachenkov said he would not contact the police over the tapes released in the “operation Carthage” case, which discussed attacking him.
Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech chair Yaroslav Yurchyshyn addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Police, and the State Bureau of Investigation, asking them to look into death threats by members of a crime group recently exposed by “operation Carthage” against journalists Denys Bihus, blogger Ihor “Lachen” Lachenkov, and Pro Kyiv team.