Solomyanska police department returns seized property to complainants

Subject of Complaint: Solomyanska District Police Department in Kyiv (Solomyanska PD)
Complaint in brief: On August 9, 2017, the BOC received three complaints against the failure of a Solomyanska PD detective to act from a Group of Companies specializing in manufacture and distribution of power cables. Over half a year, the Complainants were unable to recover their seized property and their business operations were effectively blocked.
The complainant’s story started at the end of 2016, the Main Counterintelligence Administration for the protection of the domestic economy under the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) received a tip that the Group of Companies was manufacturing counterfeits that did not meet established quality and safety standards. The Complainants suspect that this “tip” came from competitors. Operating on this tip, the Solomyanska PD conducted a search and removed products and documents from the Complainants’ premises. The Complainants note that the search and confiscation were conducted with numerous violations and the seized goods were partly handed over to the custody of the Complainants’ competitors.
The Complainants were unable to solve the problem on their own, so they turned to the court, which ruled in their favor and obligated the Solomyanska PD detective to return the seized property. However, the detective failed to abide by the judgment.
Action taken: The BOC investigator sent a written request to the Kyiv Chief of Police Department and to the Solomyanska Chief of Police requesting that the court decision be enforced and the seize property returned to the Complainants. The investigator also provided the Group of Companies with suggestions for follow-up steps. In particular, he explained, that the court can provide proofs, that the Police Department had received the judgment, or repeatedly send it. 
Result achieved: On September 13, the detective implemented the court decisions and explained the reason of the delay –a part of goods was taken for examination. The Complainants received their property and documents back. The case was successfully closed in a month.