Volyn Police Officer Convicted
A police officer from the Volyn region has been convicted for fabricating official reports about fictitious individuals and crimes. He served as an assistant duty officer in the police activity sector of the Lokachi settlement. His first falsified report was created on December 2, 2021, and falsely claimed to have detained a resident of the village of Pryvitne for smoking while intoxicated.
Court Verdict and Consequences
The court found the officer guilty under Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, as well as Parts 1 and 3 of Article 362 of the same code. As a result, he was fined 34,000 hryvnias. Furthermore, the officer is banned from working in law enforcement agencies for a period of three years.
This case is part of a broader investigation, as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) have sent to court a case concerning a criminal group allegedly led by former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi. The practice of inventing criminals to improve departmental performance statistics has sparked public outrage and highlights systemic issues within law enforcement. Such fabrication of cases is a known problem in some post-Soviet systems, where pressure for statistical results can lead to abuses.
This incident illustrates the serious challenges facing Ukraine's law enforcement system, particularly the issue of data falsification to meet statistical targets.
The officer's unlawful actions, uncovered during the investigation, risk eroding public trust in law enforcement and underscore the urgent need for comprehensive reform in this sector.