BCU addressed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation on an attack against advocate Nesvitailo

The Head of UNBA, BCU Lidia Izovitova sent an appeal to the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Bureau of Investigation on the attack on advocate Oleksii Nestitailo.

Appeals are sent in accordance with the decision of the Bar Council of Ukraine on June 13.

On May 20, in Bila Tserkva, advocate Oleksii Nesvitailo was brutally beaten by a group of people, as well as his personal property was damaged. The conflict occurred after the advocate Oleksii Nesvitailo, representing LLC "Bilotserkivsky park of culture and rest" on the basis of the legal aid agreement, made an attempt to fix the dismantling of a part of the destroyed non-residential premises on the 7A, Les Kurbas Street in the city of Bila Tserkva. The premises are recognized by the court as evidence and transferred to the advocate for responsible storage as the victim's representative.

According to the representatives of the Committee for the Protection of Rights and Guaranty of Advocacy of the Bar Council of Kyiv region, despite the video recording of the incident, as of June 12, 2019, the police did not establish persons involved in the crime against advocate Nestitailo, and the pre-trial investigation began only on the tenth day after the advocate was beaten, which is a brutal violation of the current legislation, in particular Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Advocacy".

The Bar Council of Ukraine considers it inadmissible to violate the right of any advocate for unhindered professional activity, and the use of physical violence against an advocate during the provision of legal aid is a shouting case of arbitrariness, which requires careful investigation.

The Bar Council of Ukraine appealed to Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov to take all necessary measures to establish all the persons involved in the criminal offense concerning advocate Nestitailo and bring them to criminal responsibility, and to take the course of investigation of this criminal proceedings under personal control.

In connection with the detection of facts of irresponsible attitude to the official duties of the police, which led to the lack of proper documentation of the criminal offense, BCU asks the head of the National Police Sergii Kniazev to take measures to conduct an official investigation and to resolve the issue of bringing to account the responsibility of employees of the National Police Department in Bila Tserkva (Kiev region).

The BCU also requested the Prosecutor General to ensure that all necessary procedural and investigative actions are carried out impartially and promptly for the purpose of establishing all those involved in committing a criminal offense against advocate Nesvitailo O.M. and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The BCU also informed the SBI that individual employees in functions, disregarding the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On the National Police of Ukraine" and other subordinate acts regulating the procedure for registering applications and reports on a criminal offense and for further actions aimed at fixing a criminal offense, deliberately covering those involved in the commission of a criminal offense, committed inaction (negligence).

Taking into account the above, in accordance with Articles 60, 214 of the CPC of Ukraine BCU requests a pre-trial investigation to be initiated against certain employees of the Bila Tserkva Main Department of the National Police of Ukraine in the Kyiv region who committed a criminal offense on the grounds of the crime of the stipulated Art. 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, that is a neglect of official duty, that is the failure to perform or improper performance, by an official, of his/her official duties due to negligence, where it caused any significant damage to the legally protected rights and interest of advocate Nesvitailo O.M., as well as interests of the self-governing institute of the Bar.