Case of the former head of the Rivne TCC: the court changed the preventive measure.

The Court of Appeal changed the preventive measure for the former head of the Rivne Regional TCC, Serhiy Lutsiuk, who is suspected of beating a subordinate, from detention to bail in the amount of 454,200 UAH. This was reported by the court's press service.

The Rivne Court of Appeal reviewed two appeals from Lutsiuk's defenders, filed against the local court investigative judge's ruling of July 12, 2024, which extended his preventive measure in the form of detention until September 10.

The defense asked to cancel the challenged ruling and apply a preventive measure not related to detention: house arrest at night. One of the defenders supplemented the appeal and asked to apply bail to the accused in the amount of 80 living wages for able-bodied persons (242,000 hryvnias).

The panel of judges concluded that the appeals of Serhiy Lutsiuk's defenders were partially satisfied. By canceling the challenged ruling of the local court investigative judge on extending the preventive measure of detention for the former head of the regional TCC and SP, the Court of Appeal decided to apply a preventive measure in the form of bail to the accused, although doubling its amount (150 living wages for able-bodied persons, which is 454,200 hryvnias).

It is noted that when making such a decision, the Court of Appeal took into account the fact that the case is still at the stage of preparatory proceedings, and the accused undertook to fulfill a number of procedural obligations, among which:

• not to leave the settlement where he resides without the court’s permission;to appear in court at the first demand; to inform the court of a change in place of residence and/or place of work;
• to refrain from communicating with the victim and the accused Vitalii Kozachuk both directly and through third parties;
• to hand over for storage to the relevant state authorities his passport(s) for traveling abroad, and other documents that give the right to leave Ukraine and enter Ukraine.

Although the prosecutor pointed out the risks, he did not substantiate them with relevant evidence. Analyzing the risks he had declared, the Court of Appeal concluded that they are not concrete but abstract in nature and are an attempt to further interfere with the person's right to freedom, the court informs.

Serhiy Lutsiuk is suspected of exceeding his official authority and beating a subordinate. Later, the State Bureau of Investigation informed him of a suspicion of corruption: he did not declare assets worth 46 million UAH, including an estate in Bukovel.

It was also reported that the head of the Rivne Combined City TCC and SP, Colonel Oleksandr Yarmoshevych, who was involved in a scandal because of kissing female colleagues at work, filed a resignation report.