In Lviv region, a 49-year-old resident of Sambir has been detained on suspicion of organising the illegal transfer of a conscription-liable man to Romania for €11,000. This was reported under the procedural guidance of the Sambir District Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, at the beginning of August this year, the man, who was under night-time house arrest in another criminal case, set up a scheme to profit from the illegal removal of conscription-liable men abroad. He agreed to transport a 37-year-old ‘client’ from Staryi Sambir to the state border in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
Under the plan, the detainee was to personally drive the passenger to the border, where another individual was waiting to act as a guide through the mountainous area. In this way, the conscription-liable man was to reach Romania outside the designated border checkpoints. Payment for the ‘service’ in the amount of €11,000 was to be made already upon departure from Lviv region.
The plan could not be carried out: the organiser was detained on the way to the border after receiving the money, in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. He has been notified of suspicion of organising the illegal transfer of a person across the state border of Ukraine and facilitating this by advice, instructions, providing means and removing obstacles, committed by a group of persons acting in prior collusion for profit (Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
In addition to this suspicion, the man is already on trial in a case concerning systematic tapping into a main oil pipeline and theft of oil products, in which the indictment is currently before the court. The pre-trial investigation in the new proceeding is being conducted by the Sambir District Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv region, with operational support provided by the Office of the Security Service of Ukraine in Lviv region.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt has been proved in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.