KYIV -- A Ukrainian politician's son charged with hitting and seriously injuring a pedestrian while driving a car has avoided pretrial detention.
The Shevchenko district court in Kyiv ruled on August 30 that Nestor Shufrych Jr. will be under the supervision of his father Nestor Shufrych, who is a member of the Opposition bloc in the Ukrainian parliament.
Investigators say Nestor Shufrych Jr., 22, was speeding while driving his Bentley in Kyiv on August 26 and hitting a man who was crossing the street.
The man, identified as Oleksiy Melnychenko, 31, was hospitalized with skull injures and bone fractures.
Ukrainian officials or members of their families who are suspected of crimes or other wrongdoings often enjoy special treatment from authorities.
President Petro Poroshenko and Ukraine’s government have been under pressure from ordinary Ukrainians and Western governments to fight corruption.
Critics say corruption runs so deep in Ukraine that it hurts the country’s chances of throwing off the influence of Russia, which seized the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and backs separatists in eastern Ukraine.
