Court upholds civic activist against law enforcement officers

A panel of civic proceedings judges in the Poltava Regional Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal brought by the Head of the Poltava “Solidarity” Trade Union and Head of the Civic Centre “Solidarity against corruption”, Valentina Voloshina and revoked the ruling of the Oktyabrsky District Court. It ordered the Poltava Regional Department for Fighting Organized Crime [UBOZ], its Deputy Head, as well as the Poltava Regional Central Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay the claimant 10 thousand UAH in moral compensation for having disclosed material from the criminal investigation.

The UBOZ officers used a regional newspaper to make public material from the investigation, including inaccurate information which was defamatory to Ms Voloshina.

The newspaper itself was forced by the Oktyabrsky District Court to apologise and pay moral compensation however the law enforcement officers had refused to do this voluntarily.

In December last year, the Kharkiv Administrative Court of Appeal rejected an appeal from the Poltava Regional Police and upheld the ruling by the Leninsky District Court in Poltava ordering the police to pay moral compensation of 8 thousand UAH to Ms Voloshina. These damages were over an unlawful search by police officers without a court order, official witnesses, by people without the authority or legitimate grounds.