Court closes one of the cases on dispersal of Euromaidan protesters in 2013
Kyiv • UNN
The court closed one of the cases on the dispersal of Euromaidan protesters in Kyiv on November 30 and December 1, 2013, dropping all charges against the suspects and canceling the seizure of their property, despite objections from the victims and the prosecutor's office.
The Shevchenkivskyi Court of Kyiv was considering a motion to close the Euromaidan case on the dispersal of peaceful protesters on November 30 and December 1, 2013. The indictment was submitted to the court in 2015, and the case has now been closed. All charges were dropped against the suspects, and their property was also seized. This was reported by UNN with reference to Suspilne.
There were about 170 victims in the case, said lawyer Viktoria Deyneka, a representative of one of the participants in the peaceful Maidan protest, Oleh Hrabets.
He (Oleh Hrabets - ed.) is against the closure. Now I am expressing his position because he is a soldier and is currently at the front. His position is based on the fact that the defendants must be brought to justice, and the fact that the case has not been completed for such a long time is a delay in the defense. After all, they often filed motions that they could not participate. My victim's position is that we could have done it in time
According to one of the Maidan activists, Lyubomyra Kepler, two of the victims of November 30th remained in the hall. Many of the Euromaidan protesters are now at war, and some are no longer alive.
"It's not that I hate those in front of me, I love those behind me. There must be justice. Because that was dignity, and that is not a punishable word," Kepler said.
One of the injured Euromaidan protesters, Serhiy Kolosha, told Suspilne TV that the main strike force on November 30 consisted of 300-350 Berkut officers and their subordinates.
Despite the position of the victims, as well as the prosecutor's request to postpone the hearing because not all participants were present, the judge announced his decision after the conference room.
"The motion of Kulynik's defense counsel shall be granted, and the defendants shall be released from liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations," said Judge Vitaliy Tsiktich.
In addition, the court ruled to lift the seizure of the defendants' property and dismiss the victims' civil claims.
It is noted that the suspect Marynenko was currently in the courtroom, but at the request of our journalist to share his reaction to the court decision, he reacted aggressively, in particular, with a ban on filming him.
The injured party stated that it would appeal the court decision.
As Suspilne reminds us, on the night of November 30, 2013, the police cleared Independence Square of protesters. In particular, the security forces used batons and other special means to disperse the protesters. More than a hundred people were injured, dozens were taken to police stations. The next day, on December 1, 2013, the anniversary of the 1991 referendum on sovereignty, an estimated 500,000 to 1 million protesters came out to protest in Kyiv alone. On the same day, the activists marched peacefully to the Presidential Administration, where they were again met with force, in particular by Berkut representatives.
Among those accused of involvement in the beating of protesters during the dispersal are the former head of the public security department of the Kyiv Interior Ministry, Oleh Marynenko, two former deputy commanders of the Kyiv Berkut regiment, Andriy Dydyuk and Mykola Tyahnyryadny, as well as the acting commander of the 4th company of the Kyiv Berkut and the commanders of the 3rd and 4th companies, Yevhen Antonov and Yuriy Shevchenko.