The Center for Public Integrity listed procedural loopholes former judge Tandyr used to try to avoid punishment

But none of them worked. Notably thanks to public曝光.

Today the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv announced the verdict of former judge Oleksii Tandyr in the case of a deadly traffic accident — 9 years of imprisonment. The convicted did not admit his guilt, and he refused to deliver a final statement. The Center for Combating Corruption warns that Tandyr’s case may not end here, as at least lengthy appeals lie ahead.

There were several important points noted that pertain to the case. First: thanks to defense motions, more than fifty hearings were canceled, including the lawyers’ statements of more than 30 recusal of judges and prosecutors. The CPC stresses that this strategy is not new, it is repeatedly used during hearings in the High Anti-Corruption Court.

“As a result, hearings are regularly postponed,” explained anti-corruption activists.

The CPC reminded that the EU demands changes to the Criminal Procedure Code to prevent procedural abuses in criminal proceedings, but Kyiv does nothing to stop this practice. As a result, there are cases where defendants avoid accountability.

Second moment: between the deadly accident and Tandyr’s removal from the bench, nearly a year and a half passed. During this time he received a “solid” salary. This became possible due to delays by the High Council of Justice, which first “dragged” with opening a disciplinary case, and then halted its consideration because one of the HJC members — judge Valeriy Salikhov — lacked time.

“After a series of adjournments, the HJC still dismissed Tandyr. But Salikhov, after his term at the HJC ended, managed to chair the Council of Judges,” noted the CPC.

Third moment: Tandyr attempted to avoid punishment by “hiding” in the Territorial Defense Forces. Activists recalled that former head of the State Fiscal Service Roman Nasirov wanted to do the same. In both cases, public attention helped — suspects could not mobilize into the ranks of the Armed Forces.

“Last year, ‘servants’ and their satellites tried to cement the avoidance of punishment through this scheme, but the corresponding bill could not be included in the agenda,” CPC noted.

Recall that 26 on May 2023, Tandyr, then head of Makiv district court, minutes before curfew killed 22-year-old serviceman of the National Guard Vadym Bondarenko at a checkpoint on Berezhetsky Avenue at the entrance to Kyiv from the Zhytomyr highway. The national guard soldier died on the spot. Tandyr was detained.

According to the investigation, the former judge tried to falsify the expert assessment to avoid confirmation of intoxication at the time of the accident — instead of urine, he provided water and saliva for analysis. And in December 2023, several months after the deadly accident, he re-registered some property to his wife and divorced from her. Thus Tandyr effectively disposed of assets whose arrest the Bondarenko family had demanded — the court could only seize a land plot and money in the former judge’s bank account, and did not reach the apartment and parking space.

Moreover, in January this year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the prolonged detention of Tandyr without a fixed bail amount violated his right to liberty and personal security. As a result, the ECtHR obliged Ukraine to pay him compensation: 2 100 euros for moral damages and 250 euros for reimbursement of legal costs.