Chop mayor released on bail
The mayor of Chop in Zakarpattia region, Valeriy Samadrak, has been freed from jail after posting UAH 128,000 bail, according to the Zakarpattia-based Mukachevo.net news portal, citing the Zakarpattia region court of appeals.
"Immediately after the hearing, Samadrak posted UAH 128,000 bail. He is no longer in custody and is not allowed to leave the country. According to bail conditions, the former Chop mayor must appear if summoned for questioning by investigators," the article says.
The Zakarpattia region appeals court left in force provisions for the arrest of Samadrak's property. The court lowered bail from UAH 1 million to UAH 128,000. Zakarpattia region head Hennadiy Moskal and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Robert Horvat, who attended the hearing, offered guarantees that Samadrak would not jump bail.
Moskal on his website on Tuesday said Samardak's accuser is Russian citizen Sergei Nikulin, a resident of the city of Berehove. Nikulin is unemployed and is being sought by law-enforcement agencies for unpaid bank debts. Moskal called him "an employee-provocateur of the Directorate of Economic Protection of Zakarpattia region" who regularly appeals to officials with bribe offers, who from 2011 has regularly appeared as a witness in bribe-taking cases.
"The Zakarpattia region appeals court for some reason ignored these details. I signed an official letter about violations by the Directorate of Economic Defense and sent it to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO). As a former law-enforcement officer with extensive experience, I declare these provocations do not constitute a war on corruption," Moskal said.
As earlier reported, on May 30 PGO head Yuriy Lutsenko said Zakarpattia's Prosecutor's Office together with the National Police of Ukraine arrested Samardak taking a $3,000 bribe, as well as a Chop architect and a middleman – a city council deputy. A criminal investigation has been opened pursuant to Part 3 of Article 368 (bribery) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Conviction of the crime entails a jail term of 5 to 10 years.