The Ivano-Frankivsk court acquitted a lawyer accused of bribery 11 years ago.

The Ivano-Frankivsk City Court acquitted lawyer Volodymyr Yablonchuk, who was suspected of abusing his influence. The verdict states that the owner of a hotel in Frankivsk accused the lawyer of demanding $5,000 for influencing judges who were supposed to mitigate the punishment for his friend. However, the court deemed the evidence against Volodymyr Yablonchuk inadmissible due to violations during the investigative actions.

According to the case materials, Volodymyr Yablonchuk's former client returned from Russia in 2012, lived in the hotel for four months, after which he was arrested for illegal possession of weapons and forgery of documents. During his stay at the hotel, the man befriended its owner.

The verdict states that Volodymyr Yablonchuk, who has been practicing law since 2009, met with the hotel owner in May 2013 and claimed that for $5,000 he could negotiate a lighter sentence for his client than what the law prescribed. In the following month, the lawyer called the businessman several times, urging him to pay the money. The men met again on June 17 at the Frankivsk café “Ukrainian Dishes,” where an acquaintance of the defendant handed over the first part of the bribe – $1,500.

At the end of June 2013, the court found Yablonchuk's client guilty and sentenced him to four years in prison. The verdict indicates that the lawyer continued to ask the hotel owner for $3,000 for influencing the appellate court. According to the businessman, the lawyer received 22,000 UAH and $1,500 in bribes in August 2013.

During the court hearings, Volodymyr Yablonchuk categorically denied all accusations and stated that the hotel owner never had a friendly relationship with his client. The lawyer emphasized that he never received complaints about his work from the defendant or his mother. According to Yablonchuk, the criminal case is a revenge by the police for his principled stance and for not allowing the operatives to appropriate his client's belongings seized during a search. This concerns jewelry that has not yet been returned. The lawyer believes that the hotel owner has no evidence that he demanded bribes.

It is worth noting that traces of fluorescent powder, which is used to treat money, were found on Volodymyr Yablonchuk's hands. The lawyer explained that the powder could have come into contact with his skin after a handshake. The aggrieved hotel owner requested the court to recover $1,500 in damages.

The client of Yablonchuk, who was convicted for weapon possession, stated that his mother also paid the lawyer about $5,000. However, the woman has passed away, and it is unclear when she handed over the money. He learned about the lawyer demanding money from the hotel owner only after serving his sentence. The man stated that he had no claims against the lawyer.

In court, the prosecutor did not submit a motion for permission to conduct covert investigative actions. As a result, Judge Innesa Bolyuk refused to record the communication between the lawyer and the hotel owner and deemed this evidence inadmissible. Furthermore, the court believes that the suspicion against Yablonchuk should have been presented by prosecutors, not a police investigator. Consequently, the court found all evidence against the lawyer inadmissible. The verdict can be appealed in a higher court.