Case of 'titushky' on Maidan: court announces verdict for three accused, prosecution to appeal
Kyiv • UNN
Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found Serhiy Kostenko, Oleh Haban, and Hennadiy Pogrebnyi guilty of unlawfully obstructing protest actions, but acquitted them of murder and inflicting bodily harm. The Office of the Prosecutor General is preparing an appeal, as it considers the decision contradictory.
A jury trial with two professional judges of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv in the case of the so-called "titushky" on Maidan found Serhii Kostenko, Oleh Heban, and Hennadii Pohrebnyi guilty of illegally obstructing protest actions. At the same time, they were acquitted of intentional homicides and inflicting bodily injuries of moderate severity. The Office of the Prosecutor General disagrees with this decision and will file an appeal. Sources in the Office of the Prosecutor General told a UNN journalist about this.
Details
"The court found them guilty of illegally obstructing protest actions (Article 340 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), while acquitting them of intentional homicides (Article 115 of the Criminal Code) and inflicting bodily injuries of moderate severity (Article 122 of the Criminal Code)," a source in the Office of the Prosecutor General reported.
The interlocutor noted that it is unclear exactly how the court acquitted them, because if it recognized illegal counteractions to protest actions, it means it confirmed the circumstance that they carried out indiscriminate shooting at protesters on the night of February 18-19, 2014. No other counteractions, except this one, were incriminated against them.
"So, the logical question is - if it found the guilt proven in such a counteraction, how could it acquit them of violent crimes in which this counteraction was realized? We will file an appeal in any case, because we are confident in our evidence," a source in the Office of the Prosecutor General stated.
Addendum
According to the investigation, all three accused were involved in the attack on Maidan activists by Armen Sarkisyan and Volodymyr Koshelev. At the intersection of Volodymyrska and Velyka Zhytomyrska streets, according to the investigation, they cooperated with Yurii Krysin's "titushky".
Serhii Kostenko, Oleh Heban, and Hennadii Pohrebnyi are charged with obstructing peaceful assemblies and attempted intentional homicide.
Krysin was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment with a two-year probation period for his participation in the murder of journalist Vyacheslav Veremii in the winter of 2014. The prosecution filed an appeal against the verdict. Later, in 2021, the Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced the organizer of the "titushky" group, Yurii Krysin, to eight years of imprisonment.