The State Bureau of Investigation has reported suspicions to seven employees of the Kharkiv Pre-Trial Detention Center, who became accomplices in the tragedy that ended with the death of a detainee who had just been brought in. According to the investigation, the employees deliberately violated the rules of detention, which led to a brutal beating and subsequent death of the person.
The incident occurred in April 2025. The SIZO employees — the former head of the institution, two operational officers, the assistant chief on duty, the senior officer in the corps, and two junior inspectors — decided to “educate” a new suspect. He was illegally transferred to a cell with already convicted prisoners, which is expressly prohibited by law.
A few hours after the detainee was transferred, he was beaten into a semi-conscious state. However, instead of calling doctors or an ambulance, the detention center staff left him in his cell without any help. As noted by the State Bureau of Investigation, the staff's actions were deliberate: they were actually waiting for the victim to die.
The man died at night from multiple injuries — a head injury, broken bones, internal organ and soft tissue injuries. A forensic examination confirmed that timely medical care could have saved his life.
The SIZO employees tried to hide the true circumstances of the death, stating that the man died during a fight between detainees. At the same time, they kept quiet about the fact of illegal transfer and denial of medical care.
Depending on each person's role, officials were notified of suspicion under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
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abuse of power, which caused serious consequences (Part 3 of Article 365),
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abandonment in danger, which caused death (Part 3 of Article 135),
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official negligence that caused the death of a person (Part 3 of Article 367).
The sanctions include up to 10 years in prison. The issue of taking the suspects into custody is currently being resolved.
Separately, law enforcement officers reported suspicions against one of the convicts who directly inflicted fatal injuries on the victim. His actions were qualified as intentional grievous bodily harm, which caused death (Part 2 of Article 121 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
