Monitoring of the case of Dmitry Kurylenko (hearing 09.09.2020)

09/09/2020, the Collegium of Judges of the Criminal Chamber of the Lvov Court of Appeal considered the case in criminal proceedings number 12020140000000490 on charges of Dmitry Pavlovich Kurylenko in violation of road safety rules or the operation of transport by a person driving a vehicle, which resulted in the death of several persons, that is, in the commission a crime under Article 286 Part 3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Criminal proceedings on charges of D.P. Kurylenko was considered collegially in the composition of three judges: V.Y. Golovatiy, I.P. Gutsal, T.M. Urdyuk. The International Society for Human Rights is starting to monitor this case.

The course of the hearing. Defender of the accused D.P. Kurylenko – Ikavy M.R. filed an appeal against the decision of the investigating judge of the Galitsky District Court of the city of Lvov dated 08.20.2020 on the extension of the period of detention in criminal proceedings. By this decision, the investigating judge granted the petition of the investigator of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Lvov region Stepanenko Y.M. and extended the term of the measure of restraint in the form of detention for 60 days to the suspect until 10.18.2020, with the determination of a bail in the amount of UAH 168, 160.

In the reasons for the decision, the investigating judge referred to the fact that D.P. Kurylenko is suspected of committing a serious crime, as a result of which three people died, and therefore the risks of non-fulfillment by Dmitry Kurylenko of his procedural obligations under Art. 177 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine continue to exist. However, the court in its decision did not indicate the reasons for the impossibility of applying a milder measure of restraint not related to detention.

The ECtHR has often found a violation of paragraph 3 of Art. 5 of the Convention in cases where domestic courts continued detention, relying mainly on the gravity of the charges and using formulaic language, without even considering specific facts or the possibility of applying alternative measures (“Kharchenko v. Ukraine”, paras 80-81; “Tretyakov v. Ukraine” para. 59).

Defender Ikavyi M.R. in his appeal asked to change the decision of the investigating judge in terms of the size of the bail and determine it in the amount of UAH 42,040. The lawyer drew attention to the fact that the judge of the Galitsky District Court did not take into account that the suspect had not been previously prosecuted, had committed a crime through negligence, and was himself a disabled. He also has a dependent mother – also a disabled person and a grandmother; positively characterized, has a permanent place of residence. The lawyer also pointed out that the amount of the bail determined by the investigating judge was too high. The investigating judge, in his opinion, did not take into account the income statement of the suspect, according to which his income for six months is 9,828 UAH.

Prosecutor A. Voitsenko objected to the appeal and asked the court to leave the decision of the investigating judge of the Galitskiy District Court of the city of Lvov dated 08.20.2020 unchanged. Motivating by the fact that D.P. Kurylenko is reasonably suspected of having committed a crime, and the risk that the suspect may try to hide from the preliminary investigation and / or court continues to exist.

However, in the case “Panchenko v. Russia” paragraph 106, the ECtHR highlighted that the risk of escape should not be assessed solely on the basis of the severity of the punishment that may follow. It should be determined taking into account a number of other relevant factors, which can either confirm that there is a danger of escape or show that it is too small and there is no need for preliminary detention. The prosecutor could not give such reasons.

In addition, for this criminal proceeding, it is still necessary to complete the transport-traceological and auto-technical examination, forensic medical examination, it may take a long time to get results of this examinations.

The court, after consulting, decided to refuse to satisfy the appeal of the defender M.R. Ikavy, leaving the decision of the investigating judge of the Galitskiy District Court of Lvov dated 08.20.2020 unchanged.

The date of the next hearing in this criminal case has not yet been set. Experts from the International Society for Human Rights will continue to monitor this trial.