During a live broadcast on Kyiv24 TV, Yuriy Radzievsky, an attorney and partner at Barristers LLP, commented on the high-profile case involving the service of a notice of suspicion to Volodymyr Prokopiv, in which the Barristers team is serving as the defense counsel.
Key arguments of the defense:
The essence of the charges has been deliberately distorted in the public sphere. Volodymyr Prokopiv’s actions, which are now being portrayed as “aiding tax evaders,” were aimed at resolving the fuel crisis in the summer of 2022. It was then, at Prokopiv’s initiative, that fuel truck drivers who were transporting fuel from abroad to supply the country were added to the “Shlyakh” system.
Of the 31 individuals mentioned in the notice of suspicion, only 2–3 did not return to Ukraine. This indicates not evasion, but the fulfillment of a mission to supply the state with resources at a critical moment.
The political subtext is obvious. In particular, the circumstances surrounding the delivery of the notice of suspicion raise questions: a group of 10 law enforcement officers arrived in Ivano-Frankivsk from Kyiv in three cars to serve the notice on the eve of Easter.
Photographs of the service, taken in a private setting that morning, were promptly published—initially with the suspect’s face blurred, and later in the media without it. The defense views this as a deliberate attempt at public humiliation and a reputational attack that has nothing to do with the purpose of the criminal proceedings.
The defense team is preparing a detailed legal position, which will be presented publicly. A court hearing on the issue of a pretrial restraint is also expected.
Author: Yuriy Radzievsky, Attorney and Partner at Barristers
Source: "Kyiv" TV Channel