ALEKSANDR ORLOV’S PROCEEDING. TO MAKE IMPOSSIBLE
Aleksandr Orlov’s case gained the international resonance in 2015. The fate of the Polish citizen, inmate of the Odessa pre-trial detention centre, was on the agenda of the formal meeting of the Presidents of Ukraine and Poland (Petro Poroshenko and Andrzej Duda, respectively). Orlov’s case was repeatedly discussed at special international hearings in the seim of poland. Deputies of the Seim have come to Odessa, visited the Odessa pre-trial detention centre, demanding from the government, law enforcement agencies, penal enforcement service and Ukrainian judges to ensure human conditions for the Polish citizen and the adoption of a legal decision toward him.
Aleksandr Orlov is the citizen of Poland, who spent over four years in the Odessa pre-trial detention centre. According to the Polish deputies, Orlov is “the only citizen of Poland who spent so much time in the pre-trial detention centre of another state without a legal verdict”. Aleksandr was suspected of committing the most serious crime, a contract killing and arrangement of a murder of a transport inspection official in Odessa in 2007.
Detained in 2011, Orlov initially denied his guilt and any involvement in the murder. without collecting sufficient amount of evidence, without examining alternative versions, allowing extreme violations of criminal procedural law and even outright manipulation of case papers, the investigation has succeeded in the arrest of Aleksandr Orlov and placing him to the pre-trial detention centre where this Polish citizen stayed for over 4 years, till may, 2016.
DIFFICULT PATH TO FREEDOM
During these years, Orlov has received a legal aid from various lawyers, however, remained behind the bars. Ario’s attorneys started participating in the case in december 2015, could provide Orlov with a valuable comprehensive protection, so the foreign national has got a chance for justice, and less than in a year Orlov was released from custody. After conducting a deep comprehensive investigation of the case, Ario’s lawyers concluded a falsification of the actual material proceeding with the single purpose to create the appearance of the investigation and to bring to justice the Polish citizen, whose guilt was not been proven by any evidences.
Investigating the case papers and creating legal Orlov’s protection position, Ario’s Partners Julian Khorunzhyi and Yevhen Hrushovets participated in the parliamentary hearings on Orlov’s case in warsaw twice. Together with the Polish Foundation “Vidkrytyi Dialoh” they have helped to draw attention to Orlov’s case from the part of the Ukrainian politicians, and later on they have convinced the court to dismiss Aleksandr from the pre-trial detention centre.
Free again!
As the result of titanic efforts of Ario’s team, Aleksandr Orlov was released in the hall of the Odessa Prymorskyi Court on bail of two People’s Deputies, Pavlo Kostenko and Oleksandr Urbanskyi. In addition, a new proceeding was singled out of the case, in which Aleksandr Orlov was accused, within the framework of which it is necessary to figure out a real identity of a hirer of the contract killing, in which the foreign citizen was accused.
Adherence to principles from the part of Ario’s team, years of experience in protecting the parties in the criminal process, openness to international cooperation and the ability to effectively use all available legal methods ensured victory in the Orlov’s case, which many hastened to call “hopeless for the suspect”.
