Law enforcement agencies actively report that they solve crimes from time to time, in particular, arrest bribe takers, identify illegal producers of duty-free goods, etc. But what are the chances that these cases will receive fair verdicts in court and the criminals will be punished?
In this regard, the data of the “WEEKLY CHART” project are of interest, during which almost 5,000 sentences for economic crimes, corruption and theft of state property were analyzed in the period from 2022 to 2023. As it turned out, the average probability of criminals going to prison in these cases was only 9%. At the same time, in 80-90% of cases of robbery and theft, criminals are found guilty and sent to prison.
Sentences handed down over the past two years based on 15 articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine were analyzed. A common feature of these articles is that justice under them is often achieved nominally through the approval of “plea agreements”. This provision is contained in Chapter 35 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Over the past two years, this happened in 43% of all cases, and in 87% of cases, the main punishment was a fine.
This ambiguous possibility appeared thanks to changes in the Criminal Code of Yanukovych’s time.
“In developed countries, more than 90% of crimes are solved with the help of this mechanism,” – said Andrii Portnov, at that time the president’s adviser and the head of the Main Legal Department under the president, naming this solution is innovative.
Supremacy in the hands of investigative bodies immediately left a senseless imprint on court decisions. In this regard, we should mention the most famous story with a bribe of 6 million dollars, when Mykola Zlochevsky was caught trying to pay off corruption charges with money, as a result of which, in 2023, all those involved in the case were brought to criminal responsibility. However, none of the four defendants went to prison and all received minor sentences. At the same time, the mediator received a suspended sentence, and Zlochevsky was fined 68,000 hryvnias.
In general, only 9% of 4,800 first-instance verdicts resulted in the most severe punishment (deprivation of liberty without an alternative). Taking into account appeals, this percentage may be even lower, however, depending on the type of crime, there are significant differences in the likelihood of an acquittal and whether the accused will go to prison.
For example, only 0.5% (369) of the accused were deprived of their liberty under Article 204 of the Criminal Code (selling or manufacturing drugs). This means that the first part of this article (sale) does not involve deprivation of liberty, and the second part (production) does. So, from general statistics in this area and reports on the fight against drugs, it is clear that law enforcement agencies are not hunting conspirators, but petty criminals, and they, in turn, in 63% of cases participate in the investigation and are sentenced to minimal fines. For example: the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv plans to re-examine the case against the ex-husband of the singer and blogger Inna Voronova, Yuri Chernetskyi, who was arrested in 2022 on Khreshchatyk with drugs. The law enforcement officers started several criminal proceedings regarding the sale of drugs by Chernetsky, but in May 2023, one of the judges of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv decided that the man should be released from custody. and close the case, and only when the Kyiv prosecutor’s office decided to appeal this decision, the judges agreed and the case was sent to a new one investigation.
The situation is similar with Article 369 of the Criminal Code (offering a bribe), which provides for punishment in the form of deprivation of liberty or restriction of liberty, but the result of the case is usually the same: guilty verdict, guilty plea in an agreement with the investigation (60% of cases) and a fine (usually UAH 17,000). . At the same time, only 3% of convicts are sent to prison. An example is the recent situation, when the higher anti-corruption court decided to release the deputy of the Sumy Regional Council, the head doctor of the local hospital named after Potseluev, on bail in the amount of 1.9 million hryvnias. NABU and SAP suspect him of offering and providing an illegal benefit to Oleksiy Drozdenko, the head of the Sumy City Military Administration, in the amount of 100 thousand dollars. SAP representatives said that they do not agree with the use of this preventive measure and plan to challenge it in the appeals court. The prosecutor insisted on keeping this suspect in custody with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 7 million hryvnias.
The situation is similar in the case of trafficking in illegal goods – most of those convicted under Article 369 of the Criminal Code are drivers who bribe police officers with chest cameras, making them easy prey for the growing number of convicts. On the other hand, the almost guaranteed maximum penalty (a fine of UAH 17,000) does not deter traffic violators from trying to “solve the problem on the spot.”
Is there progress in the fight against wartime corruption?
The situation with corruption in the spheres related to the civil service, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other military structures during the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. has changed radically.
“War always corrects corruption risks. And in those spheres, which in peacetime were spheres with low corruption risks, after the start of the war, the situation changed radically.” – said Artem Sytnyk, deputy head of the NAKC in Radio Svoboda interview.
In response to a question about the assessment of corruption around the army and in military structures, which is connected with a number of scandals, Sytnyk also noted the situations of crossing the border, where there are “big corruption risks” and “many” criminal cases and administrative proceedings have been initiated.
“We see in Telegram channels even the calculation of the cost of border crossing services, so this area has become very corrupt.” Sytnyk noted.
In addition, according to him, corruption risks have increased in the context of monetary aid for Ukraine, as well as in the actions of illegal enrichment of military committees.
“Several heads of regional military committees were arrested after we have made reasonable conclusions about them regarding the presence of illegal enrichment in their actions.” – said the deputy chairman of the NAZK.
However, as evidenced by numerous media reports, the majority of arrested officials are released on bail. Not only that, they are given the opportunity to go abroad and live there safely.
A pre-trial investigation into Yevgeny Borisov, the ex-director of the Odesa Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support, on the facts of illegal enrichment, was recently completed. According to the investigation materials, during his tenure in this position, he acquired assets worth almost UAH 150 million.
“It was established that after the full-scale invasion, on his behalf, members of the family purchased real estate and premium cars in Spain. At the same time, the family’s official joint income did not cover these expenses,” the Office of the Prosecutor General reports.
According to the court’s decision, the property of the Odessa Military Committee was seized in Spain: a villa and office space, as well as nine plots of land, two houses, one homestead, two apartments and 1/3 of an apartment, six luxury cars. Currently, Borisov is in custody, but it is not known what the court’s verdict will be. No one will be surprised if all issues are resolved in his favor.
Therefore, in the case of official crimes by top officials, such as: corruption, financial fraud and economic crimes, the basic principle of criminal justice, in the form of punishment, is almost lost. This is how it turns out: those who cut down a Christmas tree in the forest before New Year’s holidays are punished, and those who sell wood en masse are not punished.
