Top border guard acquitted on charges of lying in his asset declaration
Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court on April 15 acquitted a top official of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service charged with lying in his asset declaration.
The official, Serhiy Mul, was accused of failing to declare a land plot and a house worth Hr 1.5 million ($38,000) in the town of Boryspil in Kyiv Oblast in 2021. Mul is a deputy head of the State Border Guard Service's organization, planning and control department.
No crime was allegedly found in Mul's actions, according to the court's statement. The verdict can be appealed within 30 days.
According to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the hearing on Mul's case was conducted behind closed doors, despite prosecutors' request to consider it publicly.
The defense insisted on a closed hearing as Mul was a serviceman, and information on his current location could allegedly threaten his life.
The system of compulsory asset declarations was originally instituted as part of the country's fight against corruption following the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution. At the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the requirement for submitting e-declarations was suspended.
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law in October 2023 to resume asset declarations for officials and immediately make them publicly accessible.
Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) re-opened access to the asset declaration system in December 2023.
Dinara Khalilova
