Today, on April 22, at 09:20, at its sitting, the Pechersk District Court considered the complaint filed by the Chief Editor of the Independent Auditor against the investigator, who conducted the search on April 8 in the building the editorial office and Bureau of Legal Expertise are located. 

As regards the outcome of the court case, Judge Kristina A. Gladun has adjourned the court meeting until the servers illegally seized by the PGO officers are examined. 

The Chief Editor considers the postponement of the hearing to be ungrounded, since the subject of the complaint relates to the PGO investigator’s illegal action during the search in the premises and the examination of servers has nothing to do with it. Moreover, having adjourned the hearing, the Judge violated the requirements set out in part 2, article 306 and 307 of the Criminal Procedure Code, thereunder she was obliged to make a final decision on the complaint this morning. It is obvious that the representatives of the “renowned” court, once again, have demonstrated adherence to the rule of law as interpreted "on behalf of the Pechersk Court" but not based on the Law of Ukraine.

It is worth noting that, in court, the PGO investigator, against whom the complaint was made, failed to appropriately substantiate his conduct during the search. In particular, he could not explain on what basis he withdrew the servers and hard drives not mentioned in the court warrant that permitted the search.

The next court hearing on this case will be held on May 7.

For information: on April 10, Chief Editor of the Independent Auditor Vladimir Ivankov filed a complaint against PGO investigator Andrei Solonsky, who conducted the search in the premises of the editorial office and Bureau of Legal Expertise located at 23-V Antonovych (Horky) St., and illegally withdrew their servers. The hearing to consider the complaint was scheduled on April 22 despite the fact that under the Ukrainian legislation (article 306 of the Criminal Procedure Code), appeals against decisions, action or inaction in the pre-trial investigation phase are to be considered not later than 72 hours since the date of receipt.

On April 8, 2015, the PGO representatives accompanied with armed security guards broke into the building located at 23-V Antonovych (Horky) St., the seat of the Independent Auditor and Bureau of Legal Expertise. The “invaders" attacked an unarmed security guard, beat him, broke down the door, then blocked all doorways and conducted the search for 6 hours. They attempted to find any trace of NJSC Naftogaz, PJSC Ukrtransgaz and other related companies which illegal deals in 2010-2014 caused damage to the country estimated at UAH 650 million.

Failed to find any documents about the companies involved in the case, the officers from the PGO illegally seized 4 servers (not mentioned in the search warrant): two – editorial’s (with magazine layouts) and two servers of the Bureau of Legal Expertise (containing photocopies of criminal cases, material related to criminal proceedings and advocacy documents), thus having violated the secrecy of investigation and attorney-client privilege.

On April 17, the PGO returned the servers with damaged hard drives to their owners.