The Prosecutor's Office has not dropped the charges against NABU detective Viktor Gusarov — OGP
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv acquitted Viktor Gusarov, a detective with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, of criminal charges due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
The Office of the Prosecutor General officially denied reports that charges in this case had been dropped.
Law enforcement officials emphasized that the suspect fully admitted his guilt in the unauthorized copying of official information.
In comments to journalists, representatives of the prosecutor’s office explained the legal grounds for the court’s decision and emphasized that the dismissal of the case does not constitute exoneration.
The agency’s position is based on the fact that the very act of committing the offense was fully proven through the investigation.
“On the contrary, the suspect admitted his guilt in committing the criminal offense provided for in Part 3 of Article 362 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and consented to exemption from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, which is not a rehabilitating circumstance,” stated Mariana Gayovska, head of the OGP’s Communications Department.
The court case was closed not due to the absence of the criminal offense itself or the failure to prove unauthorized actions involving databases.
The main reason for the court ruling was precisely the legal factor of the expiration of the statutory limitation period for punishment for this crime.
An internal investigation established that the NABU detective collected and transferred to third parties the personal data of Ukrainian citizens stored in the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ information systems.
Investigators paid particular attention to the fact that the recipient of the materials was a former colleague of the suspect.
“The investigation established that the suspect transmitted information regarding Ukrainian citizens obtained using the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ databases. Given the nature of these actions and the circumstances of the transfer of information to his former colleague—a law enforcement officer who left for the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in February 2014— the investigation also examined the possibility of treason,” the OGP stated.
Law enforcement officials thoroughly investigated this working theory during the pretrial hearing; however, criminal intent was not fully substantiated.
The court found there was insufficient evidence that the information was leaked specifically for use by the special services of the aggressor country.
“In this regard, the prosecutor made the decision required by law to close the proceedings in this part. At the same time, this in no way refutes the established fact of a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 362 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It is in this part that the individual pleaded guilty,” they explained.
This was reported by Maryana Gayovska, head of the OGP’s communications department, in a comment to the “Judicial and Legal Newspaper.”
Court dismisses treason case against NABU detective Viktor Gusarov
Court keeps NABU employee suspected of treason in custody
Earlier, NABU rejected allegations that their employee, detained by the SBU, is a Russian agent.
It should be noted that NABU will cooperate in the investigation of the case involving its employee Viktor Gusarov, who is suspected of espionage. However, this cannot be a pretext for dismantling the anti-corruption infrastructure.
