Mayor of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi left in custody

The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa rejected the request of the defense lawyers of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi mayor Vitaliy Grazhdan to change the measure of restraint.

As stated in the court's ruling, the measure of restraint in the form of detention in the State Institution "Odesa Pretrial Detention Center" was extended for 60 days, i.e. until July 11.

In March, the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa extended the measure of restraint in the form of detention for the mayor of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Vitaliy Hromadan.

In January, the prosecutor's office brought the case against the mayor of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Vitaliy Grazhdan, to court. He is accused of organizing the extortion of property with threats of violence, which was carried out by a group of people by prior conspiracy.

The mayor is currently in custody by court order. Materials on other participants in the crime have been separated into separate proceedings, and their investigation is ongoing.

In December last year, the Kyiv District Court of Odesa granted the investigator's motion and extended the term of the preventive measure in the form of detention and removal from office for the mayor of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Vitaliy Hryzhdan. The mayor was detained in July 2024.

It should be noted that this is not the first detention of Vitaliy Hryzhdan by the SBU. In October 2022, the mayor of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Vitaliy Grazhdan, complained about being beaten by SBU special forces in his office.

At the time, the SBU commented on the incident, saying that the mayor had provoked the fight himself, so law enforcement officers were forced to handcuff him. He was then suspected of hooliganism and violation of the laws and customs of war.

Subsequently, the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office opened two proceedings over the incident, but the then head of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, Serhiy Kostenko, said that the search was part of a case involving possible financial fraud.

Кирило Бойко