Ukrainian Supreme Court Rejects Ex-Prosecutor-General's Reinstatement Appeal

KYIV -- The Chamber of Appeals of Ukraine’s Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that former Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin should not be reinstated.

According to the ruling pronounced on October 24, the appellate court said the decision by the High Administrative Court not to reinstate Shokin was valid.

Shokin served as Ukraine's prosecutor-general in 2015-2016. He was fired from the post in April 2016.

Shokin's name has been at the center of political struggle in the United States between President Donald Trump and his possible challenger in 2020, Joe Biden of the Democratic party.

Trump and some of his advisers have suggested that the former U.S. vice president improperly pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin from the post to stop him investigating Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, where Biden's son Hunter Biden was a director.

Although Ukrainian anti-corruption officials have rejected Trump's allegations, Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the Bidens, which has led the Democrat party to initiate an impeachment inquiry.

Shokin's initial appeal against his sacking with the High Administrative Court in March 2017 was unsuccessful. Last month, he filed a new appeal with the Supreme Court's Chamber of Appeals.

The chamber's October 24 rejection of Shokin's appeal can be further appealed to the Supreme Court's Big Chamber.

With reporting by Ukrayinski Novyny