Over 70 heads of TCC served with suspicion notices – National Police Chief
The National Police is stepping up investigative work to prevent abuses in the activities of territorial recruitment centers, as well as during the issuance of reservations and decisions made by military medical commissions, according to Укрінформ.
In particular, 76 TCC heads of various levels have been notified of suspicion, the circumstances of possible illegal reservation of nearly 2.5 thousand persons liable for military service are being verified, and 6.5 thousand unlawful decisions of military medical commissions have been canceled, told acting Head of the National Police Maksym Tsutskiridze.
“It is a matter of principle for me that the law applies equally to both the person liable for military service and the official responsible for mobilization or making decisions as part of a military medical commission. Position, rank, or the possession of any resources cannot be a shield against accountability. But it is equally important that responsibility is always individual and based on evidence. We cannot allow the exposure of specific abuses to turn into a campaign against all TCC employees or the automatic annulment of lawful conclusions regarding people who genuinely have serious illnesses or injuries”, he noted.
That is why, according to Tsutskiridze, the police are now strengthening investigative work where they see the greatest risks of abuse – foremost in the activities of TCRs, in the process of issuing reservations, and in the decision-making by military medical commissions.
“We are not talking about formally increasing the number of cases, but about the quality of documentation, identifying all participants in the schemes, and bringing materials to court”, he clarified.
The National Police Head presented data indicating that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, National Police investigators have investigated 428 criminal proceedings concerning illegal assistance in evading service, issuing fictitious medical conclusions, and organizing departure abroad. 105 of these have already been sent to court; pre-trial investigation is ongoing in the others.
“Among the perpetrators are employees and heads of TCRs of various levels – for example, we have already notified 76 such heads of suspicion. And this work will be continued: every instance of using official powers for personal gain or illegal exemption from mobilization must receive proper legal assessment. We are working separately on schemes of fictitious reservation. Currently, we are checking the circumstances of possible illegal reservation of nearly 2.5 thousand persons liable for military service. Similarly, the decisions of military medical commissions are in the focus of our attention: during the investigation, we seized over 83.5 thousand military medical commission resolutions, and 6.5 thousand illegal decisions have already been canceled”, Tsutskiridze said.
At the same time, he stressed that every decision must be evaluated individually to protect the rights of people who have legal grounds for deferment or unfitness for service.
“Liability is also provided for those who directly evade mobilization call-up. Under Article 336 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, suspicion has been notified in the commission of 6,417 criminal offenses, and 6,162 indictments have been sent to court”, the National Police Head added.
At the same time, he emphasized that it should be understood: a notification of suspicion does not mean the completion of the investigation: “After this, it is necessary to establish all participants, verify every episode, study documents, and collect evidence that will withstand examination in court. In complex cases, this work lasts months, and sometimes years.”
