among several who strongly sympathize with the well-known comrade

If it were about the sympathy of the ATG, it would occasionally slip through here and there. Something like Querty and Navukh regularly grumbling about "unbanning Vitalik." However, it doesn't. The problem is that it's not about the ATG (which is insignificant to them), and not even about the verdict itself (even the defenders have differing opinions), but about the approach to their work that the AK demonstrated. That is, the body that is supposed to resolve conflicts by restoring justice and conveying this fact to the masses, instead, threw fuel on the fire and then philosophically contemplated the agitated anthill instead of trying to fix the situation. Yes, maybe it wasn't done maliciously, but out of ignorance. But that doesn't change the fact. Voluntary recusal is the right decision here, which is what we are seeing. It's like in football - if a fight breaks out on the field, the referee is to blame, regardless of how right or wrong his decisions were.