Case description
On June 15, 2020, the HACC found Oleksandr Mefodii, a former Kyiv Regional Council member, guilty of receiving a bribe to exert influence on law enforcement officers. For this, he was imprisoned for 5 years, but later, the appellate instance mitigated the punishment. This is the first prison sentence in the history of the HACC.
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In February 2019, council member Mefodii tried to induce a local entrepreneur to transfer a bribe so as not to prevent him from logging. Having been denied, Mefodii, to exert pressure, reported illegal logging to law enforcement officers, who subsequently seized the entrepreneur's truck. In the end, they agreed on the amount of USD 5,000, but in fact, Mefodii received only USD 200; the rest of the banknotes were fake.
The crime was qualified under Article 369-2, part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Mefodii was imprisoned for 5 years, and his car was confiscated.
Disagreeing with the verdict, both the prosecution and Mefodii's lawyers subsequently filed appeals, and the HACC Appeals Chamber changed the qualification of Mefodii's actions to Art. 369-2, part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on January 14, 2021; the mention of the fact of extortion of bribes was excluded from the verdict. The council member received a new sentence of 2.5 years in prison. The seizure of the car was lifted.
The cassation appeal was dismissed.
