On October 1, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv delivered its verdict in the case against Viacheslav Zinchenko concerning the murder of linguist and public figure Iryna Farion. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment, reports UNN.
Details
The court also ordered Zinchenko to pay UAH 5 million in compensation for moral damages to Iryna Farion’s daughter, Sofia. The verdict may be appealed in an appellate court.
The court hearing in case No. 466/12967/24 began at 10:30 a.m. at the premises of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv. Iryna Farion’s daughter, Sofia Osoba, is the injured party in the case, while the defendant is Viacheslav Zinchenko.
The court found Viacheslav Zinchenko guilty of murdering Iryna Farion and sentenced him to life imprisonment
During the proceedings, the court examined 30 volumes of materials and held more than 80 court hearings.
Additional information
On July 19, 2024, linguist Iryna Farion was shot in Lviv. It was reported at the time that the attempted assassination took place at around 7:30 p.m. on one of Lviv’s streets. An unknown person fired a weapon in Farion’s direction.
It later became known that Farion died in hospital after the attack.
The then Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, stated that the attack on Iryna Farion had been classified as an attempted intentional murder. The police had several theories regarding the linguist’s murder, including her public and political activities and personal animosity. Law enforcement officers found a spent cartridge after the shooting and did not rule out a “Russian trace” in the crime.
On July 25, it became known that an 18-year-old suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion had been detained in Dnipro. Klymenko stated that law enforcement officers had sufficient evidence to assert that Viacheslav Zinchenko was the person who shot the woman. According to him, the investigation lasted 139 hours.
The first court hearing on selecting a preventive measure for Zinchenko took place on July 26, 2024, at the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv. At the time, the court remanded him in custody without the right to bail, while Zinchenko himself asked the court in September of that year to extend his preventive measure because he feared for his life.
They want to transfer me to a pretrial detention center. Know that if something happens to me, if my preventive measure is not extended, I will... I do not want to kill myself, I am not going to, under any circumstances. So know this: if something happens to me, they helped me. I ask the prosecutors and judges to extend my preventive measure
At the first hearing, Zinchenko did not plead guilty and asked journalists to pose more interesting questions, calling theirs “some kind of boring stuff.”
At the end of December 2024, the prosecutor’s office referred the case concerning Iryna Farion’s murder to court.
Prosecutors from the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office completed the pretrial investigation and referred to court an indictment against an 18-year-old resident of the city of Dnipro, charged with the murder of public figure and Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the VII convocation Iryna Farion
At the same time, law enforcement officers reclassified the case concerning Farion’s murder as the murder of a person in connection with the performance of a public duty, motivated by national intolerance, as well as unlawful handling of weapons. Under the charges, Zinchenko faces life imprisonment.
On September 17, the court debates in the case concerning the murder of linguist Iryna Farion concluded at the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv. After that, the court retired to the deliberation room to reach a decision.
At the beginning of the hearing, the defense asked for additional time to review the case materials, in particular the forensic medical examination. The defense lawyer also claimed that some materials had been scanned improperly and spoke of pressure on the defense.
The court gave the defense 20 minutes to review the materials. After the recess, the defense lawyer asked to postpone the hearing until September 18 in order to complete preparations for her statement during the court debates.
The prosecutors objected to the motion. They noted that the defense had already been given time to review the case materials.
According to the prosecutor, during the pretrial investigation in the case, more than 60 expert examinations were commissioned, over 1,500 people were questioned, and footage from surveillance cameras was reviewed.