Prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine will file an appeal against the decision of the Shevchenkovskyi District Court of Kyiv to close the criminal case against law enforcement officers accused of crimes against Euromaidan protesters on November 30 and December 1, 2013.
This was reported in the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
On May 24, 2024, the Shevchenkivsky District Court of the city of Kyiv decided to close the criminal case against four department heads of the capital "Berkut" and the head of the public security department of the Kyiv police. They are accused of abuse of power with violence and illegal obstruction of protests on November 30 and December 1, 2013.
The indictment was referred to the court in 2015.
As noted in the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, during the trial, the defense side constantly abused procedural rights in order to disrupt court sessions and delay the trial. In view of this, the prosecutors repeatedly asked the court not to delay the case and to consider it faster.
Prosecutors are currently preparing an appeal against the Shevchenkivsky district courtʼs decision, because the court did not comply with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine when closing the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
- On November 21, 2013, Euromaidan began in Ukraine, after Viktor Yanukovych stopped preparations for signing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. The protests turned into anti-government protests and gained a larger scale after the police dispersed the students on November 30. In February 2014, the shooting of demonstrators led to the overthrow of the Yanukovych regime.
- The Euromaidan events were called the Revolution of Dignity, and the dead were called the Heavenly Hundred. According to the prosecutorʼs office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 107 people died during the revolution. Another 2.5 thousand people were injured.
- Last week, the former commander of the motor vehicle platoon "Berkut" in Sevastopol and three other employees of this special unit were informed of suspicion of treason and possession of firearms due to abuse of official position. They suppressed peaceful protests in Kyiv in 2014, and when they returned to Sevastopol, they helped Russia occupy Crimea.
- In early March , the ex-deputy commander of the Crimean Berkut unit was sentenced to 15 years in prison for treason and abuse of power.