Lawyer Solodko: NABU detectives artificially criminalized standard management activities in the 'Clean City' case

Lawyer Yevhen Solodko, who represents the interests of the former deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Olenych in court, stated that the prosecution distorted the materials of covert investigative (search) actions (CISA). According to the defense, the investigation artificially reclassified ordinary work communication as stages of a criminal plan.

He made this statement after analyzing the motion to extend the obligations of his client Petro Olenych.

Solodko notes that in its motion, the investigation claims that Petro Olenych allegedly promised "not to take measures to stop the implementation of the criminal mechanism." In fact, the lawyer argues, the transcripts of the CISA indicate the opposite: the recording shows that investigation subject 2 states the following: "Well, this is a complete mess. Olenych decided to turn us in to the prosecutor's office and that's it."

To confirm Olenych's principled position regarding the allocation of land plots and construction, the lawyer provides a court decision on the lawsuit of the Kyiv City Council against LLC "Mayakof," according to which the company had to demolish an unauthorized structure at 6-B Chervona Kalyna Avenue. Recall, this concerned an attempt to illegally seize a land plot bypassing the procedure prescribed by law for acquiring rights to communal land. At that time, on Petro Olenych's initiative, the Kyiv City Council filed a lawsuit and prevented illegal construction.

Regarding the CISA materials, the defense claims that the investigation deliberately ignores or downplays the fact that Petro Olenych, as an official, initiated legal actions against fraud.

"Unfortunately, NABU detectives used selective quoting and removed context, as well as substituted concepts to artificially criminalize Petro Olenych's standard management activities and his ordinary political behind-the-scenes conversations," the lawyer said.

According to the lawyer, one of the key pieces of evidence of the prosecution is Olenych's receipt of so-called "criminal lists" of land plots. At the same time, the SAP motion claims that the former official allegedly ensured the illegal passage of issues through Kyiv City Council commissions.

However, according to Solodko, the recordings indicate the opposite.

In particular, one of the recorded conversations reveals the true nature of these so-called "lists." It describes how Petro Olenych scolded the head of the land commission Terentyev for disorganized documents without clear statistics. Olenych demanded: "Write on a sheet the number with addresses... how many of those we asked not to transfer were issued? And how many of those we asked were transferred and which were not transferred? And just a LIST on a sheet."

"As the profile deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration, Olenych demanded from subordinates and deputies ordinary management statistics — a report on the status of the passage of draft decisions. The investigation, however, takes the word 'list' out of the context of administrative reporting and artificially gives it a criminal connotation," Solodko stated.

He insists that by selective quoting and removing words from context, the investigation significantly changed the tone of the materials:

"Ordinary communication, administrative control over documents, and attempts to stop illegal construction were presented as elements of a 'criminal plan.'"

The lawyer also draws attention to the unusually high speed with which judge of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court Viktor Maslov reviewed the prosecution's motion materials.

"The 5 volumes attached to the motion, about 1200 pages, were studied by the judge in approximately 15 minutes. Incredible efficiency and speed. At the same time, this concerns a document containing numerous references to evidence evaluation, legal qualifications, and justifications regarding preventive measures," Solodko noted.

In his opinion, the full context of the audio recordings used by NABU has numerous confirmations that Petro Olenych acted within his powers, demanded compliance with procedures, and refused to act without legal grounds. What the investigation calls a 'criminal plan,' the defense considers ordinary work of the deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration taken out of context.

Updated June 5

Subscribe to our Telegram channel t.me/sudua and to Google News SUD.UA, as well as to our VIBER and WhatsApp, Facebook page and Instagram to stay informed about the most important events.