A school principal in the Ternopil region forcibly sent students to a psychiatric hospital
The Ternopil City and District Court imposed a fine of 102,000 hryvnias on Daria Komenda, the former director of the Novosil Special School, for the unlawful deprivation of liberty of students by systematically referring them to a psychiatric facility. In addition to the fine, the former director was barred from holding leadership positions in educational institutions for one year and ordered to pay nearly 50,000 hryvnias for forensic examinations.
The investigation identified at least eight instances in which the school director sent children deprived of parental care to the children’s psychiatric ward of the Ternopil Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Hospital due to inappropriate behavior or during school breaks.
The minors stayed at the medical facility for periods ranging from several weeks to more than two months; the hospitalization documents were signed by third parties, and the incidents themselves were documented beginning in 2021. The illegal actions were uncovered during an inspection of the facility by representatives of the Ombudsman in the fall of 2024. During the investigation, the defendant pleaded guilty, entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor, paid 122,000 hryvnias in compensation to the victims, and donated 150,000 hryvnias to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
This was reported by the publication “ZAXID.NET.”
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