Ombudsman Lubinets called on law enforcement to investigate the violent arrest of a man by the police in Chernivtsi

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, contacted the police and the State Bureau of Investigations of Ukraine regarding a video showing patrol officers in Chernivtsi forcibly detaining a man and taking him to the territorial recruitment center.

Lubinets reported this on Telegram.

The video depicts patrol officers wanting to check the military registration details of the man and “inviting” him to go to the recruitment center. When the man refused, they forced him to the ground and handcuffed him.

Lubinets stated that a resident of Chernivtsi contacted the ombudsman about the alleged unlawful actions of the patrol officers. According to the man, the officers illegally detained him, beat him and took him to the recruitment center. The man also complained that the police did not provide him the right to legal assistance.

Lubinets shared a video showing the man and four patrol officers. The police wanted to check his military registration details, asking when he last visited the recruitment center and if he had updated his information since the new mobilization law took effect.

In the video, the man asks for an arrest protocol and does not resist. At one point, the patrol officers force him to the ground.

The press service of the regional patrol police reported that the incident occurred on June 15 at approximately 10:00 am on Vokzalna Street in Chernivtsi. The officers allegedly received a call about hooliganism, investigated the circumstances and issued administrative protocols. They also requested to see military registration documents from all involved, acting in accordance with Article 32 “On National Police.” According to the police, one of the men did not have these documents with him, but later a relative brought them.

“To clarify the citizen’s details, he was invited to the recruitment center. However, the man refused and said they should detain him if he was to go. The inspectors then detained him,” the police explained.

The patrol police have initiated an internal investigation into this incident.

It is worth noting that earlier, media reported that residents of the village of Vorokhta in the Carpathians blocked a road and disrupted the work of the territorial recruitment center.

It was later reported that the controversial checkpoint of the recruitment center workers in Vorokhta, which caused dissatisfaction among the local residents, was removed. However, recruitment center staff will continue to check the documents of military personnel in the village.