Court acquits former Odesa City Hall official accused of taking bribes

The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa convicted Vitalii Babin, the former deputy head of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Odesa City Council, who was accused of taking a bribe.

As noted in the court's verdict, the prosecution failed to prove the former official's guilt.

Vitaliy Babin was detained back in July 2015 while receiving $5,000, which, according to the investigation, was the first installment of a bribe totaling $7,000.

The court initially sent him to a pre-trial detention center with the possibility of bailing him out for a million hryvnias, but the official did not have a million, but in July 2016 the court reduced his bail to 110,240 hryvnias, which was already acceptable, so the official was released, and in May 2018 he even went to work.

Case history

In July 2015, a representative of Trans.Port LLC filed a statement with law enforcement agencies that she was extorted about USD 100 thousand for approving documents for leasing a land plot in Odesa with a subsequent right to buy it back. It was about preparing documents for the lease with the subsequent right to buy the building of the Fish Restaurant on Prymorskyi Boulevard.

Vitaliy Babin did not admit his guilt in taking the bribe and called all the actions of law enforcement agencies against him a provocation organized by a deputy of the Odesa City Council, with whom he was familiar in connection with the performance of his official duties. It was the deputy who asked him to provide information about the building of the former Fish Restaurant and introduced him to the applicant.

At the court hearing, the former head of the department, who was the accused's supervisor, and the former secretary of this department were interrogated as witnesses. The head of the NGO Lustration Committee of Odesa Region also testified.

What the court was guided by

The court, in finding the official's guilt unproven, was guided by the fact that most of the evidence, including materials from covert investigative actions, was declared inadmissible due to procedural violations. In particular, the prosecutor did not provide the court with procedural documents on the basis of which these investigative actions were carried out. Also, the court was not provided with the decision of the investigator or prosecutor to involve the applicant in covert investigative (detective) actions. Therefore, the judges decided that the investigative actions were carried out by an improper person

Therefore, the judges decided that the accused's testimony regarding the provocation could not be considered unfounded and took into account the information that representatives of the Odesa City Council could not dispose of the restaurant building. After all, the premises are privately owned.

Кирило Бойко