The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found Oleksandr Medvid guilty of the abduction of Revolution of Dignity activists Ihor Lutsenko and Yurii Verbytskyi from the Oleksandrivska Hospital on January 21, 2014.
This is reported by "Suspilne" and "Graty".
The court sentenced Medvid to five years in prison, but he was released from punishment due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. However, Oleksandr Medvid was ordered to pay 248 000 hryvnias in favor of Ihor Lutsenko.
In the courtroom, the accused stated that he does not consider himself guilty and will file an appeal. The prosecutor also plans to appeal the courtʼs decision, because he is not satisfied with it. The trial has been going on for eight years, during which the composition of the court changed four times, and the trial was started three times.
The case of the abduction of Verbytskyi and Lutsenko
In January 2014, Ihor Lutsenko and Yurii Verbytskyi were avducted from the territory of the Oleksandrivska Hospital in Kyiv and taken outside the city. After torture, they were left in the forest near Kyiv. Verbytskyi died from his injuries.
The investigation considers Oleksandr Volkov, who was arrested in this case, to be the organizer of the abduction, as well as a person related to the alleged mastermind of the abduction — Oleksiy Chebotaryov. In general, the investigation reports that at least 16 people were involved in this crime.
All the crimes committed during the Revolution of Dignity are conditionally combined into one big "Maidan Case." It investigates the murder of 91 people (78 demonstrators and 13 security forces).
- The year before last, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv arrested a new suspect in the case of the January 21, 2014 kidnapping and torture of activists Ihor Lutsenko and Yurii Verbytskyi. Ihor Lutsenko himself clarified on Facebook that he is talking about Oleksandr Perestyuk — "he is the fourth potential criminal who was sent to the pre-trial detention center. Now, in addition to him, five "abductors", two police officers and two persons in absentia are on trial."
- In 2022, the State Bureau of Investigation established the identity of the first killed Maidan activist in 2014. According to examination data, this is Lviv resident Yurii Verbytskyi.