Boy's death at football camp: court denied motion to apply pre-trial detention to coach
Kyiv • UNN
The court denied the application of a pre-trial measure to the coach in the case of the death of 10-year-old Vanya Honcharuk, who drowned at a football camp. The boy's mother expressed shock and surprise at the court's decision, as the accused remains without restrictions.
Svitlana Honcharuk, mother of 10-year-old Vanya Honcharuk, who died in a football camp, reported that the court refused to apply a preventive measure against the coach in the form of a personal obligation. She wrote about this on Facebook, as reported by UNN.
Details
The next hearing in the case of our tragedy caused us, to put it mildly, shock and surprise. A group of prosecutors from the Kyiv regional prosecutor's office petitioned for the application of a preventive measure against the accused coach, clearly stating the arguments why the accused should be subject to a preventive measure in the form of a personal obligation. And what do you think? The judge refused
She added that the accused remains without any restrictions.
"He can work as a children's coach, continue to endanger children, for whom he is responsible, and also influence witnesses, freely travel with a children's football team to all cities of Ukraine," the woman added.
Addition
10-year-old Vanya from Odesa region died in August 2023 on the territory of the elite football academy "Benfica" camp. At that time, the coach took the children to swim in a 9-meter deep lake, where he left them unsupervised. The boy could not swim, his parents warned about it. Vanya eventually drowned.
The boy's parents faced a two-year legal battle.
Media reported that only one criminal proceeding out of two opened reached the court – against the coach. The case against officials "stalled" at the expert examination stage.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko took personal control of the investigation into the boy's death. The composition of the group of prosecutors was changed for an effective investigation.
In the case of the death of a 10-year-old boy in a lake on the territory of the "Olympic Village" complex, his director has been notified of suspicion. Since the director is currently abroad, measures are being taken to declare her on international wanted list and initiate the extradition procedure to Ukraine.
Vanya Honcharuk's mother commented on the suspicion against the director of "Benfica Ukraine Football Academy" LLC and emphasized that the family had been fighting for this for more than two years. They wanted not only the perpetrators to be held accountable, but also those who organized the system of danger and impunity.