Rape of a minor in Transcarpathia: the court starts a new trial after the appeal against the verdict

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The court of first instance begins a new trial of the case of the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in Transcarpathia.

The preparatory meeting is scheduled for September 27, said Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada.

According to his information, on September 27, the court will consider the request submitted by the prosecutor to consider criminal proceedings in a closed court session.

“I submitted a petition for the presence of an employee of the Ombudsman’s Office in court sessions in order to monitor compliance with the procedural rights of the participants in court proceedings,” Dmytro Lubinets wrote.

Photo: SergPoznanskiy/Depositphotos

Earlier, the Volovetskyi District Court of Zakarpattia Oblast released three teenagers who raped a girl from serving a sentence and sentenced them to probation for 2 years.

The prosecutor’s office appealed the verdict, after which the Zakarpattia Court of Appeal overturned it.

What happened?

Photo: alebloshka/Depositphotos

In the summer of 2021, in Transcarpathia, in the village of Verkhni Vorota, three teenagers lured their girlfriend to the yard of one of the teenagers, and then to the basement. The girl was friends with the boys, so she went with them.

First, one of the boys hit the girl in the stomach, after which they raped her, filming the abuse on video. The video was uploaded to the Internet and distributed around the school.

The girl did not dare to tell about the violence – her grandmother learned about it from the police and later wrote a statement.

At the trial, all three boys pleaded guilty. The court also took into account “positive characteristics” about them from teachers and the school principal.

Judge Oksana Sofilkanych imposed a sentence of 5 years in prison, but released the teenagers from serving the sentence, imposing a probation period of 2 years.

Each of the boys was ordered to pay 60,000 hryvnias to the victims, as well as cover procedural costs of more than 25,000 hryvnias for each.

The sentence raised a wave of indignation among human rights defenders and the public.

The village of Verkhni Vorota in Transcarpathia

After publicity ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that he took the case under personal control.

He learned that the trial took place with the participation of a lawyer from the Legal Aid Center, and the interests of the victim were represented in court by the child protection service of the local village council, where the mother of one of the rapists works as a secretary.

The same child protection service gave the rapists positive characteristics, the ombudsman said.

At the same time, the Volovetsk District Court stated that the injured girl had a lawyer.

“During the court process, the interests of the victim were represented by a legal representative – her father and a lawyer. Also, during the procedural actions in the court, the presence of a psychologist was ensured.

The representative of the children’s service was involved by the court at the request of the victim herself only during her interrogation, as she did not want to testify in the presence of the legal representative – the father.”the court said.

Dmytro Lubinets sent his representative to Transcarpathia to visit the father and grandmother of the offended girl.

The commissioner promised to carefully analyze the actions of the judge and the prosecutor’s office, to send relevant letters to the High Council of Justice, the Prosecutor General, and the Prosecutors’ Qualification and Disciplinary Commission.

“We will also analyze the activities of the local child protection service, whose employee represented the girl’s interests in court. After all, as it turned out, the mother of one of the boys is also an employee of that child social protection service.

Therefore, there are doubts about the “impartiality” and professionalism of the representation of the girl’s interests”– the ombudsman wrote.

Photo: belchonock/Depositphotos

Journalist Vitaly Glagolawho was involved in publicizing the incident, reported that the girl’s father agreed to file an appeal with the court, and lawyer Masi Nayem ready to assemble a group of lawyers to defend the girl and prepare an appeal.

“I spoke with the girl’s father. He is ready to fight to the end and file an appeal against the court’s decision.

Masha Efrosinina found for the girl one of the best psychologists in Ukraine, who will help the girl survive what happened”the journalist wrote.

He also disagreed with the court’s decision the head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Mykyta Viktor. On his behalf, the social service, the relevant departments of the OVA and the Mukachevo RVA conducted an inspection in the Nizhnyovoritsk community.

The head of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration also called on all parents not to keep silent about such cases, to contact the district authorities and him personally.

He also reacted to the terrible crime Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Oksen Lisovyi.

“What happened in Transcarpathia, the very fact and the court’s verdict regarding this egregious case, require the immediate synergy of human rights defenders, public activists, the educational community and opinion leaders, so that no prejudices, no ties, no stigmas stand in the way of a just decision.

As a father of two sons, as a man who has seen a lot in life, I am of the opinion that only the perpetrator is always to blame.” – wrote the head of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

He added that this case is about a “distorted sense of impunity”, about the fact that everything can be solved and covered up.

“In schools, we still do not teach children what is more important than any formulas, subjects with predicates and nucleic acids – interaction with each other, understanding of emotions and respect for personal boundaries.

I promise, together with my colleagues, to make every effort to bring the case to the conclusion it deserves.”– added Lisovyi.

Read also: He was free for 2 months: a man who tried to rape a minor was sentenced to 8 years in prison in Kryvyi Rih

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