The police may be allowed to open packages of Ukrainians without their knowledge.


A bill has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada that allows law enforcement to inspect mail items without the citizens' knowledge. The initiators of the project are deputies - Maksym Pavliuk, Serhiy Ionushas, and Vyacheslav Medyanik.
The expansion of police powers provides for the checking of not only letters but postal items in general. Arrests will be applied without the knowledge of the recipient. The change pertains to Article 258 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which is responsible for interference in private communication. According to the bill, law enforcement will be able to check letters, postcards, packages, bags 'M', addressed mail, shipments for the blind, EMS postal packages, and other means of transmitting information between individuals.
Inspection of postal items without the recipient's knowledge is possible only after they have been seized according to a decision of a investigating judge. This will be done in exceptional circumstances when there are sufficient grounds to believe that the shipment contains items or documents significant for the investigation. If items or documents of interest to the investigator are found during the inspection, they will have the right to confiscate them. To maintain confidentiality, the investigator may take copies or samples from them. Marking, technical means of control, or secure analogues may also be used to ensure the safety of these items. If important items or documents of interest to the investigator are not found, postal shipments will be returned to the recipient. All actions related to inspection, confiscation, or detention of postal items are recorded in a protocol. Postal service employees provide conditions for these actions and the preservation of confidential information.
The initiators of the bill emphasize the necessity of amending the legislation to regulate the procedures for organizing and conducting covert investigative actions regarding postal correspondence. This problem is directly related to specific norms regarding postal communication. Earlier, Nova Poshta introduced new rules for the redirecting of postal shipments.
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