Ukraine Court Orders Former Security And Defense Official To 60-Day Pretrial Detention

Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has remanded the former deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council to 60 days in pretrial detention on abuse-of-office charges and for allegedly submitting an erroneous asset declaration to authorities.

Oleh Hladkovskiy, a longtime business associate and political ally of former President Petro Poroshenko, has denied the charges and said the HACC's ruling was “politically motivated,” according to the Interfax news agency.

A bail of $424,000 was set that Hladkovskiy’s lawyer said will most likely be posted on the morning of October 21.

The bail amount is equal to the alleged inflated price margin of a defense industry public procurement order for vehicles that Hladkovskiy’s Kyiv-based Bohdan Motors had fulfilled.

Bohdan Motors manufactures passenger cars, buses, trolleybuses, as well as special-purpose vehicles, such as trailers, ambulances, vans, and cranes of various modifications.

If released, Hladkovskiy, 49, will be required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and he won't be able to leave the Kyiv region.

Hladkovskiy is also accused of omitting more than $164,000 worth of leasing income that his wife earned in 2016-2018 on his asset declaration forms as a public official.

National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) detectives detained the former official on October 17 at Kyiv’s Boryspil airport and a day later he was issued a notice of suspicion.

He faces between five to eight years in prison if found guilty.

His lawyer, Ruslan Volynets, has filed a countersuit with Kyiv’s Shevchenko District Court contending that Hladkovskiy was unlawfully detained.

Volynets told Interfax that his client had "systemically" cooperated with investigators, appeared for questioning in a timely manner, provided requested information, and had traveled abroad and returned to Ukraine 10 times after leaving public service.

The HACC is the newest addition to Ukraine's court system and started operating in September.

With reporting by Interfax and Ukrayinska Pravda