Police officer from Odesa region found not guilty of beating a cyclist

The Izmail City District Court of Odesa Region acquitted a police sergeant who was accused of abuse of power.

According to the court, the prosecution failed to prove the elements of a criminal offense, the Dumskaya newspaper reported.

According to the indictment, on July 23, the policeman stopped a man who was riding an electric bicycle along an avenue in the center of Izmail. According to investigators, the police officer had no reason to stop.

Despite this and the absence of obvious signs of an offense on the part of the cyclist, the sergeant ordered him to stay put. When the cyclist tried to move, the policeman caught up with him, threw him to the ground and twisted his arms. Later, the man was found to have abrasions on his forehead.

The prosecution argued that these actions were intentional, unreasonable and beyond the scope of the police officer's authority, accompanied by violence and humiliation of the victim. The police officer did not admit his guilt. He explained that he had stopped the cyclist because of suspicion of alcohol intoxication and traffic violations, as well as because of the aggressive behavior of the victim, who was trying to flee the scene. The police officer denied using excessive force, noting that the victim had resisted.

The court, having examined the evidence, concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove the police officer's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This standard of proof requires that the totality of the circumstances exclude any other reasonable explanation for the event other than the commission of the crime by the accused. A forensic medical examination established that the victim had a forehead abrasion that was classified as a minor injury, but the court found that the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence to unequivocally link the injury to the police officer's actions.

The court also refused to award the victim UAH 10,000 in material damage and UAH 50,000 in non-pecuniary damage. As stated in the declaration of the acquitted sergeant, he lives in Odesa and has been working as a police officer at the Patrol Police Department in Odesa Oblast since 2018.

Кирило Бойко