The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has dismissed the complaint of businessman Vadym Alperin against his arrest and bail. The court found Alperin's arguments unfounded or such that he had not exhausted national procedures for the protection of rights, UNN reports .
The events investigated by the European Court of Human Rights concerned the detention of Alperin by NABU detectives in 2019 in a case of smuggling on a large scale, corruption and abuse of power involving a number of customs officials. According to the available investigation materials, Alperin created a group, which included a number of customs officials, to organize the import of textile and other consumer goods and their customs clearance at reduced rates.
The court also investigated the events of the subsequent imposition of a preventive measure on him and the recovery of UAH 35 million out of UAH 77 million in bail due to violation of procedural obligations.
Alperin complained to the European Court of Human Rights against:
- his arrest by the NABU was illegal, and court decisions on his detention and the amount of bail violated his freedom of movement;
- , the presumption of innocence was violated when President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement calling on the public to help law enforcement agencies find Alperin and promised a reward to anyone who helps in bringing about the smuggler's “long-awaited meeting with the law.
- The HACCU Appeals Chamber unlawfully seized half of his bail in April 2020, which is a violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention;
- his rights as set out above were restricted for populist purposes, in violation of Article 18 of the Convention.
The Strasbourg Court found Alperin's arguments about the violation of the right to freedom of movement to be manifestly unfounded, and about the violation of the presumption of innocence to be inadequate, as the court believed that national procedures for the protection of rights had not been exhausted. The court considered the merits of the case and found no violation of rights.
Recall
In October 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court closed the case of Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin on creating corruption schemes at customs that caused the state losses of more than UAH 60 million due to the expiration of the pre-trial investigation after the person was notified of suspicion.