Ex-police officer acquitted in bribery case in Odesa

In Odesa, a court acquitted a former deputy police chief who was accused of bribery. The court ruled the prosecution's evidence inadmissible and stated that there were signs of provocation by law enforcement.

This was reported by Anti-Corruption Dimension.

The Odesa court acquitted Olena Kushnaryova, a former deputy head of a police department in the region, who was accused of bribery. She was accused of extorting and receiving $3,000 from a participant in a criminal case, but after several years of consideration, the court concluded that the prosecution's evidence was inadequate.

The investigation claimed that in August 2018, Kushnariova demanded a bribe to speed up the pre-trial investigation, including changing the investigator and controlling the course of the case. According to the prosecution, the money was transferred through her friend, who cooperated with law enforcement. At the time of receiving the money, the police officer was detained in a Lexus car.

Kushnariova denied her guilt. She emphasized that she was not involved in the relevant proceedings and could not influence the course of the investigation. According to her, the acquaintance who gave her the money allegedly returned her personal money that she had previously kept, and the special operation was a provocation.

The court found out that the witnesses' testimonies contradicted each other: the victim did not arrange for the money personally, and Kushnareva's friend changed her testimony several times. In addition, the protocols of the search and transfer of funds were found to have procedural violations, and some actions were physically impossible to perform at the specified time.

Because of this, the court declared key evidence inadmissible and noted that the case had signs of provocation. As a result, the former deputy police chief was fully acquitted.

At the same time, the court found Anatolii Khmilkivskyi, a deputy of the Odesa District Council, guilty of bribery and sentenced him to five years in prison with confiscation of property. The lawyers insisted that the crime was provoked by the businessman, but the court rejected these arguments, finding no evidence to support them.

Анна Бальчінос