Closing the Kyiv Court, President Zelensky Says Ukraine is Fighting Against Corruption and Russian Invasion Simultaneously

President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidentt.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the dissolution of the Kyiv court on Tuesday, as proof Ukraine can fight to end Russia's history of corruption and invasion at the same time.

"This story is over," he said while announcing that he had signed the law dissolving the Kyiv District Administrative Court, which Ukraine's anti-corruption authorities compared to a criminal organization and whose chairman was hit by US sanctions on December 9.

"But the story of reform continues, even in such a time of war," President Zelensky continued in his evening video address.

President Zelensky signed the law the same day it was passed by Ukraine's parliament, in a nod to a broad judiciary and other reforms needed for Ukraine to join the European Union.

Meanwhile, Pavlo Vovk, chairman of the court, said in a Facebook post that the decision to eliminate the court was purely political, made in haste and "those who applaud today will soon regret it."

The US State Department said Washington imposed sanctions on Vovk, "for soliciting bribes in return for interference in judicial and other public proceedings," as well as naming two of his immediate family members at the same time.

The corruption case against Vovk was sent to Ukraine's top anti-corruption court this summer, after years of cases against him being blocked.

Separately, Ukraine's national anti-corruption bureau (NABU) said indictments were issued on June 17 against Vovk, two of his deputies, four trial judges and four others including the head of the country's judicial administration.

The accused "acted in a criminal organization" led by Vovk with the aim of usurping state power by gaining control of the judiciary and deliberately obstructing their work, NABU said, saying the investigation had accumulated more than 16.000 hours of wiretapping.

It is known that this clean-up effort cannot be separated from Ukraine's desire to join the European Union, which requires a long process and may take years, requires extensive reforms to meet a number of standards ranging from judicial policies to financial services and food security.