Seven years for torturing a man: a TCC serviceman was convicted in Odesa

Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa sentenced a serviceman of a territorial recruitment center to 7 years imprisonment for torture, unlawful deprivation of liberty and kidnapping. After his release he will also be barred for 3 years from holding positions in TCC units related to mobilization activities.

As stated in the court verdict, on May 2 in Odesa a group of servicemen engaged in notifying individuals noticed a man. Without establishing his identity and having no legal grounds for detention, they began to pursue him.

The man ran into a building entrance and grabbed the metal handrails, trying to prevent forced movement. The servicemen forcibly pulled him away from the railings and put him into a service vehicle, a Renault Master.

The victim was taken against his will to the territorial recruitment center to undergo a military medical commission. During the trip he said he was suffocating and begged the servicemen to stop. According to the court’s findings, one of them used a tear-gas agent on the man, while the others beat him.

The servicemember’s actions were qualified as torture, as well as unlawful deprivation of liberty and kidnapping committed by a group of persons. For unlawful deprivation of liberty the court imposed 5 years imprisonment, for torture — 7 years. The final sentence for the aggregate of crimes is 7 years imprisonment and a 3-year ban on working in positions related to mobilization activities.

Separately, the case materials note that 10 servicemen of one of the district TCCs and SP of Odesa were notified of suspicion of torture and unlawful deprivation of citizens’ liberty. Preventive measures were imposed on those detained.

Earlier we wrote:

• In Kyiv, a father of five minor children was illegally detained at a TCC
• Now everything will be captured on camera: TCC vans in Mykolaiv will be equipped with cameras
• After the accident – not to the hospital, but to the TCC: in Mykolaiv a cyclist’s wife reported a strange story
• In Odesa, a TCC employee was taken into custody on suspicion of beating a 13-year-old boy
• Beatings and violence: in Odesa ten TCC servicemen were notified of suspicion