I'm slowly getting through the transcript (in Ukrainian; haven't seen a complete English translation anywhere yet) of the Sept. 15 press conference of the ex-SBU chief Oleksandr Turchynov.

I never liked Turchynov, and I'm not inclined in general to trust any one of the politicians now - Ukrainian, Russian, or those exiled in Britain. I'm not inclined to be too gullible - but it doesn't mean I've lost all my curiosity. So here's one interesting passage - it'd be such a shame if this turns out to be true:

[...]

Another threat to national security is that of the possibility of elimination of the independent judicial system. The Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General's office have statements from judges reporting that the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (RNBOU) has been exerting unprecedented pressure on courts - first of all, on those working on serious commercial cases.

As part of the RNBOU apparatus, there has been created a special department that dealt with court issues. [...] One Valery Naumovych Ivchenko was appointed its head. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had to check his background to clear him.

This person has so many criminal cases on his record that not every repeat offender would be able to compete with him.

Here're just some examples. There's an ongoing investigation into Ivchenko's involvement in large-scale stealing of funds. A case against Ivchenko was opened in 1993 - he was involved in currency operations without having a proper permission for that. In 1998, another criminal case was opened - he was accused of providing false information, which had led a court to pass a wrong judgment in a property registration case. Another case that same year - misusing budget funds. Next case - opened not by the prosecutor's office but by the internal affairs department in Cherkasy region - he was accused of large-scale stealing of a company's funds.

And on, and on, and on. If I start recounting everything, it'll take up all of the press conference.

During our check-up on this person we found out that he had also provided false information about his education. It turned out that he didn't have a law degree.

And this very person was in charge of the judicial reform at the RNBOU apparatus. And this very person was pressuring the courts to pass certain judgments, following Poroshenko's instructions. And very often he cited this country's very serious elected officials, including the president.

Judges lost patience. They just issued a statement that they could not stand it any longer.

The SBU, having checked this person, refused to clear him, because he had concealed his criminal record, information on his education, etc.

We informed the president about what kind of people worked in the RNBOU apparatus. Moreover, these very people were interviewing judges prior to appointing them to the administrative posts. They were basically recruiting judges for criminal activity. Unfortunately, I do not have information as to whether this person [Ivchenko] still works at the RNBOU or not.

[...]

As if crooks like Roman Zvarych, Pavlo Lazarenko and Victor Yanukovych weren't enough for this country, they had to drag this Ivchenko person in...