The Supreme Court upholds the Court of Appeal's guilty verdict against an official who, on 23 occasions, facilitated the illegal transfer of men across the state border by falsifying documents

According to the case, the official, by forging documents, facilitated the illegal transfer of men aged 18 to 60 across the state border, committing 23 episodes of crimes under part 2 of article 332 and part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In addition, the convicted person, for mercenary motives and with the direct intention of unlawful enrichment, consciously agreed to receive a promised unlawful benefit of USD 1,000 from an individual for his assistance in obtaining a travel permit and entering his personal data into the Shliakh information system, thereby committing a crime under part 3 of Article 368-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The local court sentenced the official to 5 years' imprisonment with 3 years' disqualification from holding leading positions in public organisations and a fine of 3,000 minimum tax-free incomes. In accordance with Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the offender was released on probation.

The court of appeal overturned the verdict of the court of first instance in terms of applying the provisions of Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to the convict and sentenced him to real imprisonment.

The panel of judges of the CrimCC of the SC agreed with the conclusions of the court of appeal that there were no grounds to release the convict from serving his sentence on probation, as the number of episodes of criminal activity and the circumstances under which the convict committed the crimes indicated an increased public danger of both the crimes and the person of the accused, especially given the martial law introduced in Ukraine and the need to ensure the established procedure for crossing the state border of Ukraine and the state's defence capability.

This conclusion was made by the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court, upholding the verdict of the court of appeal.

Resolution of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court of 22 August 2024 in case No. 452/1336/23 (proceedings No. 51-6572км23) - https://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/121159034. 

This and other legal opinions of the Supreme Court are available in the Database of Legal Positions of the Supreme Court - https://lpd.court.gov.ua.