A former lecturer at one of Lviv’s universities is accused of organising the illegal transfer of a man liable for military service across the state border of Ukraine for a monetary reward. Prosecutors of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office have referred the indictment to court.
According to the investigation, in December last year the 47-year-old former associate professor devised a plan for a man of mobilisation age to leave Ukraine. He assured the “client” that he could arrange documents for alleged employment with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) with subsequent exemption from mobilisation and prepare a full set of documents for unhindered border crossing.
To this end, the man liable for military service had to provide copies of his passports, tax identification number, photographs and all educational documents. In addition, the accused gave detailed instructions on how to behave when passing through the checkpoint, what exactly to tell the border guards and how to confirm the fictitious employment with Interpol in order to leave for European Union countries without hindrance.
In total, the former lecturer received 10,000 US dollars for his services. At the end of March this year, law enforcement officers detained him near one of the shopping centres in Lviv’s Frankivskyi district after he received the final part of the agreed sum — 3,000 US dollars. The detention was carried out under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
The man is charged with organising the illegal transfer of a person across the state border of Ukraine and facilitating this by advice and instructions for selfish gain under Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pre-trial investigation was conducted by the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv Region, with operational support provided by the Strategic Investigations Department in Lviv Region of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proved in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.