Waste management company regains access to property after wrongful police arrest

Subject of complaint: Vasylkivskyi Police Department (Vasylkivkyi PD) in Kyiv Oblast
Complaint in brief: On August 25, 2016, the Complainant, a waste management company, addressed the BOC after the Vasylkivkyi Police Department sealed premises that the Complainant had leased to store its equipment. The Complainant reported that police had been granted a court order to search the landlord’s property because of some crime that had been allegedly committed there. But the investigating judge had not authorized the investigating officer to seal the Complainant’s premises or seize the Complainant’s property.
Action taken: The BOC investigator looked into the matter and concluded that the police inspector had failed to comply with the provisions of procedural legislation. The BOC investigator sent a request to the Vasylkivkyi PD to review the circumstances of the seizure of the Complainant’s property and, if this seizure was without basis, to take steps to return the property to the Complainant. The BOC investigator also sent this case to the National Police expert group for review.
Result achieved: On October 20, the Complainant informed the Council that the problem had been solved and access to the sealed property had been restored. The case was closed.