The case of 'porn office' protection rackets: four top National Police officials suspended, personnel decisions expected
Kyiv • UNN
The National Police has suspended four executives for providing protection to porn offices. Personnel decisions will be made in the near future. Luxury cars and 22 million hryvnias in cash were seized from the suspects.
The leadership of the National Police has suspended police officials involved in the case of protecting "porn offices" from their duties, UNN reports, citing the National Police.
Details
According to the National Police, this refers to employees of specific regional police units who are currently under pretrial investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The Head of the National Police initiated an internal investigation, under which four police officials were suspended from service. In the near future, personnel decisions regarding them will be made based on the results of the internal investigation
The National Police of Ukraine is fully cooperating with the investigation and is interested in a comprehensive, objective, and impartial establishment of all the circumstances of the case.
Purging the system of dishonest employees remains one of the key priorities of the National Police. Any manifestations of corruption or abuse of office will meet a harsh and principled reaction, regardless of position, special rank, or merit. According to Art. 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court's verdict of guilty
As a reminder
A large-scale operation to purge the National Police system of corruption has been conducted in Ukraine, uncovering a scheme to cover up "porn offices" in three regions, as reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. According to the investigation, the leadership of territorial police units in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr regions may have ensured the unhindered operation of a network of so-called "porn offices."
Among those detained are the Head of the Main Directorate of the National Police (GUNP) in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the Deputy Head of the GUNP in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, the First Deputy Head of the GUNP in the Ternopil region, the Deputy Head of the GUNP in the Zhytomyr region, and a driver from the motor depot of the State Institution "Service Center for Ministry of Internal Affairs Units," the National Police and SBU reported.
According to the case files, the suspects were involved in "protecting" the activities of models on internet platforms with explicit content. For various amounts of illegal benefit, the officials, according to the SBU, guaranteed their "protégés" immunity from prosecution for illegal content.
Subsequently, as Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko reported, 5 people received notices of suspicion in the case of protecting "porn offices" following searches, including 4 top police officials in three regions; luxury cars and 22 million UAH in cash were seized.