NABU, SAPO expose scheme enabling draft-age men to travel abroad (PHOTOS)
On Jan. 9, 2024, NABU and SAPO, in cooperation with the SSU, exposed an illicit scheme within one of the district courts in the Odesa region. The scheme facilitated the evasion of draft by men aged 18-60 and allowed them to travel abroad.
As established, the judges of the court passed decisions to establish the residence of a minor with his father, enabling the adult to use it as a pretext to travel abroad with the child.
'Clients' were searched for on social media, while each court decision cost USD 1,500 to USD 3,500.
The detectives established that during 2022-2023, more than 1,000 of such decisions were passed. Meanwhile, there were cases of men traveling abroad without their children, determining the child's place of residence in temporarily occupied territories, falsifying procedural documents by plaintiffs, and interfering with the automated court case distribution system.
Currently, the transfer of USD 1,500 to one of the judges in exchange for a promise to issue a 'proper' decision has been documented. The judge has been served with charges under Part 3, Art. 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Searches are ongoing at the residential addresses of other potential participants in the scheme and within the court building. Investigators are seizing case files in which illegal court decisions may have been rendered.
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered not-guilty in the commission of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until he or she is found guilty by court.
