The Kharkiv Court of Appeal left in force the verdict against a former policeman for drug sale.[1] At the time of the offence the man worked as an inspector of the training centre of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast.[1] Officers detained the policeman and notified him of suspicion, and he was afterwards dismissed from his post.[1] The Kyiv District Court of Kharkiv had found the former law-enforcement officer guilty of illegal drug trafficking and imposed seven years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.[2]
At trial the accused did not admit guilt.[1] He denied selling prohibited substances and explained money found during his personal search as repayment of a debt by a friend.[1] The court examined the prosecution evidence and found it sufficient to confirm the former officer’s guilt.[1] On prosecution by Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office prosecutors, he was found guilty of repeated illegal purchase, storage, transportation and sale of an especially dangerous narcotic drug and psychotropic substance under Part 2 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.[1] He was given seven years of imprisonment with confiscation of property and was also stripped of the special rank of senior police lieutenant.[1] The defence appealed, seeking cancellation of the verdict and a new trial, but the Kharkiv Court of Appeal refused the complaint and left the first-instance decision unchanged.[1]
He had bought cannabis and amphetamine, kept them at his residence and later sold them.[1] One dose cost from 1,500 to 2,500 hryvnias depending on the substance.[1] A search of his home found packaged amphetamine and cannabis, LSD and MDMA pills, a homemade drug-use device and cash obtained through crime.[1]
