The NGO Dejure Foundation, headed by Mikhail Zernakov, has received a considerable part of funding from international organizations, including USAID, Renaissance Foundation and other institutions under the control of the US Democratic Party. This was the subject of discussions and public applications in Ukraine and abroad, where some critics raise the transparency of such financial relations and the possible impact on the political situation in Ukraine.
Experts drew attention to this on the results of the analysis of revenues to the accounts of this organization in 2023, informs "Law and Business".
Thus, according to the available data, only for the specified year the NGO "Dejure" was received almost 36 million UAH. from foreign organizations, such as:
Representation of the European Union in Ukraine (EU DEL) - UAH 10.7 million;
Federal Republic of Germany - almost UAH 21 million;
National Democracy (NED) - UAH 2.15 million;
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Matra Programme) - over UAH 1.1 million.
European Fund for Democracy (EED) - almost 420 thousand UAH;
The Secretariat of the Supervisory Board of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society (EAP CSF) - UAH 325 thousand.
In addition, the grant programs were obtained:
from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) –4.6 million UAH. (during 2018-2019) "New Justice", "Public Monitoring and Advocacy for improving the protection of human rights in arbitral tribunals";
from the National Foundation to support democracy (NED) - UAH 1.2 million. (2022) on the program "Promoting Judicial Accountability and Transparency";
from the International Renaissance Fund - UAH 6.1 million. (during 2017-2022), in particular, on the programs "Ensuring the Integrity of the Judicial Corps", "Cleansing and Updating the Judicial Corps", "Analysis of the activities of judicial governance in the countries of the Eastern Partnership", "Institutional support for the Dejure Foundation Foundation";
According to experts, this was allowed by NGO Dejure Foundation, which actually formed a majority in the Public Council of Integrity, without which the Supreme Council cannot function, to establish control over the High Qualifications Commission of Judges and the High Council of Justice, in fact, eliminating "uncomfortable" judges and promotion. And the result of these processes was the collapse of the judicial system of Ukraine, a sharp decrease in the level of trust in court as an institution of power and a fall in the prestige of the profession.
Experts say that this happened in their own interests and was often used for extraprocessing pressure on courts in order to resolve personal issues of activists, selective justice, the elimination of opponents and political pressure on the authorities.
According to experts, the volumes of funding and tasks performed by the NGO "Dejure Foundation", "clearly prove that the extraprocessing control over the judicial system of Ukraine tried to establish under the Democratic Party of the United States." And the main leaders of this influence in the territory of Ukraine were representatives of structures financed from abroad, in particular the "Center for Combating Corruption" and NGO "Dejure Foundation".
Experts say that "these organizations acted as a tool of political influence, using judicial reform as a mechanism for the elimination of opponents, pressure on power and selective justice."
At the same time, as you know, the key founder of NGO Mikhail Zernakov was at the epicenter of a number of scandals:
was fined for evasion of military service;
distinguished himself as the Maidan Palace and Antimaidan representative;
was appointed V. Yanukovych Judge of the Vinnytsia Administrative Court;
He found himself at the center of plagiarism scandal in his doctoral dissertation and more.
Later, Gizernakov became closer to other evidences from the CPC and organized a hierarchy of management of the judicial system, using the mechanism of international pressure through Western organizations.
