The judge from the Zakarpattia region, who acquitted the rapists of a 14-year-old girl, was admitted to the competition for a position in the appeals court

Employees of the Volovetsky District Court (Oksana Sofilkanych in the center) (Photo: Volovetsky District Court of Zakarpattia Oblast)

Judge Oksana Sofilkanych from Zakarpattia Oblast, who handed down a scandalous sentence to three teenagers for raping a minor, was admitted to the competition for the position of judge of the appeals instance.

The relevant notice was published on the website of the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine (HCJSC).

«We inform you that as of March 8, 2024, the Commission allowed 1,772 candidates for the position of judge to participate in the competition for vacant positions of judges in appeal courts, announced on September 14, 2023. 166 candidates were rejected, the participation of 11 was terminated,» the message reads.

According to the list of candidates, Oksana Sofilkanych was allowed to pass the qualification assessment and participate in the competition for a position in the general court of appeals (criminal specialization).

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As you know, in August 2021, three minor residents of the village of Verkhni Vorota raped a 14-year-old girl in the basement. Teenagers recorded everything on video for blackmail. Later, they uploaded the video of the abuse to the Internet.

On March 16, 2023, the head of the Volovets district court, Sofilkanych, sentenced the teenagers to five years in prison, but released them from punishment, assigning a two-year probationary period to all three. This sentence was later overturned by the Zakarpattia Court of Appeal, and now the case is being heard again with a different composition of the court.

Investigation.Info also published information that in 2022 Oksana Sofilkanych acquitted the head of one of the united territorial communities of Zakarpattia Oblast, Mykhailo Popelych, a member of the Servant of the People party, who was caught by the SSU for bribery. According to the investigation, he received 80,000 hryvnias as a «kickback» from the winner of the tender for the repair of local roads.

We will remind you that the Higher Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine recommended Iryna Doharieva for appointment as a judge of the Arbuzynka district court of the Mykolaiv region.

It should also be noted that the High Anti-Corruption Court has chosen preventive measures against three of the four judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeals, who were exposed for receiving $35,000 in bribes.

They were charged with suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: part 3 of article 28 (commitment of a criminal offense by a group of persons) and part 4 of article 368 (acceptance of an offer, promise or receipt of an illegal benefit by an official).