Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, together with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), completed an investigation into six law enforcement officers in Sumy Oblast who fabricated criminal cases in order to improve crime detection statistics.
According to the investigation, the police were looking for socially vulnerable individuals and offering them money to take responsibility for crimes they did not commit.
- “Criminals” for money: detainees invented crime scenarios, front persons “confessed,” and cases were instantly “solved.”.
- Falsification of evidence: law enforcement officers staged crimes, conducted fictitious investigative experiments, and fabricated evidence.
- Fictional witnesses and victims: some people were given the roles of “victims” or “eyewitnesses” who confirmed the investigation's version.
In total, the investigation documented four falsified cases.
One of the episodes involved a staged beating of a person. The police created a staged scene, after which they “quickly detained” a fake person, who was charged with trumped-up charges.
In another case, the case of bank card theft was completely fabricated: a person who had nothing to do with the crime was forced to take the blame.
All six defendants were dismissed from their positions. They are charged under Part 2 of Article 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal prosecution of a knowingly innocent person, combined with falsification of evidence), as well as with an attempt to commit a similar crime.
The sanction of the article provides for up to 10 years of imprisonment.
