Appeal canceled ban on investigation into property of brother of State Bureau of Investigation director

The Kyiv Court of Appeal overturned the ruling of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, which had prohibited the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the editorial office of Slidstvo.Info and journalist Alina Strizhak from publishing an investigation into the real estate of the brother of the Director of the State Bureau of Investigation Oleksiy Sukhachov.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center reported the decision, adopted on September 24.

The previous ruling was issued on July 6 by Judge Serhiy Vovk of the Pechersk District Court. He prohibited the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Slidstvo.Info and Alina Strizhak from disseminating information about 143 real estate objects which, according to the journalists, at various times belonged to the brother of SBI Director Oleksandr Sukhachov.

This concerned securing a future lawsuit based on a claim filed by a representative of LLC “Parkovyi-2.” As the Anti-Corruption Action Center reported, the restrictions were imposed before the lawsuit itself had been considered on the merits.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center and the journalists called such a decision an unlawful restriction on freedom of speech and appealed it. In their assessment, using securing a claim to block an as yet unpublished journalistic material could create a mechanism for prior restraint on other socially important investigations.

The investigation itself concerned 143 apartments and office premises in Kharkiv. The journalists established information about these objects by analyzing open state registers. According to their data, Oleksandr Sukhachov acquired the real estate in 2018–2020 at prices that were significantly lower than market prices.

In particular, the investigation subsequently published stated that some of the apartments Sukhachov’s brother bought were in Kharkiv residential complexes of the developer “Stroi City.” According to the documents analyzed by the journalists, individual apartments cost the equivalent of about $932–1856.

Before publication, the authors sought comment from the SBI Director and LLC “Parkovyi-2,” associated with the developer. After receiving the journalistic inquiry, a company representative applied to the court to secure a future lawsuit.

Despite the court ban, on July 17 the material was simultaneously published by eight Ukrainian media outlets as part of the “Initiative 143.” It was joined by “Ukrainska Pravda,” Suspilne, “Schemes” Radio Liberty, hromadske, “Dzerkalo Tyzhnia,” NV, Bihus.Info and “Toronto Television.”

The appellate court’s annulment of the ruling means that the restrictions on publishing this investigation imposed by the Pechersk Court no longer apply.

Based on materials from: Anti-Corruption Action Center, “Ukrainska Pravda”