The National Association of Lawyers of Ukraine appealed to the Office of the Prosecutor General and the State Bureau of Investigation with a statement about the commission of a gross crime by NABU detectives who installed "wiretapping" in the office of metropolitan lawyers. This is stated in the official letter of the Association, reports UNN.
The Association sees in the actions of NABU detectives a violation of a number of articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Their appeal states that the detectives not only eavesdropped, broke into the office of lawyers in the center of the capital, but also conducted illegal searches there "before the investigating judge issued a ruling without proper grounds", thereby grossly violating the rights and legitimate interests of lawyers. Moreover, as stated in the letter, NABU detectives were well aware that they were entering the office of lawyers, since this address is official and registered in the register of lawyers.
The very circumstances and course of the investigative action completely refuted the status of urgency and confirmed that NABU detectives had no legal grounds for conducting searches, as they had no idea what exactly they were trying to save and, moreover, what they wanted to find in the specified premises and did not even bother to inform the participants in the investigative action which things and documents should be issued voluntarily, although all participants in the investigative action offered to voluntarily issue the searched things and documents
They also noted that the searches of lawyers were carried out not only in the absence of a court order, but also a basic prosecutor's order. At the same time, the detectives resorted to simultaneous searches of the lawyers' homes, where only their wives with young children were present, because the lawyers themselves were actually blocked by investigative actions in the office. And at the same time, no documents or items were seized as a result of the searches.
According to information from the Association, the decision on such searches was made by NABU detective Fedor Oliynyk, and detective Yaroslav Voronizhsky was engaged in "wiretapping", he also took out the equipment when the lawyers found "wiretapping" in their office. Post factum, the motion to conduct searches was granted by Judge of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court Lesya Fedorak, who "did not ensure proper judicial control over the observance of the rights and guarantees of advocacy" and did not check the existence of grounds for searches without a court order.
The officials of NABU, as well as the prosecutors of SAP, assure the Association, "had a criminal intent" to violate the guarantees of the activities of the above-mentioned lawyers and professional secrecy established by the Law of Ukraine "On Advocacy and Advocacy".
"The motive and purpose of these acts was, contrary to the requirements of the law, to obtain attorney-client privilege, namely: information that became known to the lawyer about the client, as well as the issues on which the client contacted the lawyer, the content of advice, consultations, explanations of the lawyer, documents drawn up by him; information stored on electronic media, and other documents and information received by the lawyer during the practice of law. A prerequisite for the search was the fact that the lawyers discovered means of covert interference in the private communication of lawyers with clients. These technical means of covert interference were found in the floor of the premises, in the holes that were made from the floor below. At the same time, these holes with technical means were found not only in separate offices of lawyers, but also directly in the negotiation room, in which only communication between lawyers and clients takes place, which indicates a conscious violation by NABU employees of one of the fundamental guarantees of advocacy - confidentiality of information exchange between a lawyer and a client….
Detective Yaroslav Voronizhsky himself participated in the illegal urgent search of the office, forbade the participants in the search to move around the premises, but for unknown reasons was not included in the search protocol as a participant. Instead, as was recorded on the video of the investigative action, he freely took out a package and a briefcase from the premises, which probably contained technical means with which interference in the private communication of lawyers with clients was carried out.
In addition, NABU detective Voronizhsky Ya.V., who actually previously carried out operational-search actions against lawyers, was included in the group of detectives in the criminal proceedings and personally participated in court hearings with the investigating judge of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court Lesya Fedorak on the legalization of the search and the seizure of property seized during the search" - the statement reads.
At the same time, the only "reasonable" explanation for the need to conduct operational-search measures against lawyers is actually obtaining information in an illegal way by NABU employees regarding confidential communication with clients, as well as clarifying the position and further actions of the defense in criminal proceedings, the pre-trial investigation of which is carried out by the specified body of pre-trial investigation.
In favor of this version, the Association cites arguments that there are detectives in the group who are investigating cases against clients of these lawyers. That is, the same detectives are investigating cases against both lawyers and clients of these lawyers. In addition, NABU detectives illegally seized an information carrier containing a video recording of video surveillance cameras of the premises of lawyers' offices, which "once again confirms the interference of detectives in advocacy and obtaining information about communication between lawyers and clients."
Based on the above, it can be stated that NABU detectives violated the right to respect for the lawyer's home during urgent searches (while the home means not only the home, but also the office of the lawyer and the law firm), as well as the right to confidential exchange of information between the lawyer and the client in writing. Moreover, during the search, NABU detectives forced lawyers to provide information that is attorney-client privilege, as well as inspection, disclosure and seizure of documents related to the practice of law
Based on the above, the legal community insists on the intervention of the Prosecutor General in the situation and the introduction into the ERDR of data on the commission by NABU officials, including Yaroslav Voronizhsky and Fedir Oliynyk, of criminal offenses under Part 2 of Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal entry into another person's property and illegal search in it, committed by an official), Part 1 of Art. 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, (abuse of power or official authority, that is, the intentional commission by a law enforcement officer of actions that clearly go beyond the rights or powers granted to him, which caused significant damage to the rights, interests of individual citizens, state or public interests, interests of legal entities protected by law), as well as Part 2 of Art. 397 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (committing by an official using his official position in any form of obstacles to the lawful activities of a defender or representative of a person in providing legal assistance or violation of the guarantees of their activities and professional secrecy established by law, which was committed under the circumstances specified in the statement of offense).
We remind you that it became known earlier that NABU established wiretapping in the office of metropolitan lawyers - the equipment was installed in the negotiation room, where lawyers communicated with their clients, who are under investigation by NABU itself.