Former Yanukovych-era Interior Ministry officials to be tried in 'titushky' case
Kyiv • UNN
The SBI has submitted to the court an indictment against former senior Interior Ministry officials for organizing titushky during Maidan. They are accused of abducting, torturing and killing activists in 2014.
An indictment has been sent to court against the former Interior Minister and acting head of the Kyiv police department under former President Viktor Yanukovych in the case of Maidan-era "titushky," the State Bureau of Investigation said on Friday, UNN reports.
Details
"SBI employees sent to court an indictment in criminal proceedings against the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the acting head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv under Yanukovych. During the Revolution of Dignity in November 2013 - February 2014, they led the so-called "titushky" - as mercenaries were called then, who were used by the Ukrainian authorities to use physical force and participate in mass clashes," the bureau said.
The completion of the investigation in this criminal proceeding, as noted, is the final investigation into the involvement of "titushky" in organizing violence during this period. "The investigation proved that Interior Ministry officials engaged mercenaries in illegal actions aimed at preventing peaceful protests," the SBI said.
According to the investigation, these "top law enforcement officers" organized:
- abducting two members of the Euromaidan movement from the premises of the Oleksandrivska Clinical Hospital in Kyiv on the night of January 20-21, 2014, torturing them and intentionally killing one of them;
- the abduction and imprisonment of an activist on January 21, 2014 near the Pochayna metro station in Kyiv and his subsequent torture on the night of January 21-22, 2014 in a tent camp near the Boryspilska metro station in Kyiv;
- committing on 18-19.02.2014 at the intersection of Volodymyrska and Velyka Zhytomyrska streets in Kyiv the intentional murder of a journalist, attempts to kill other protesters and inflict bodily harm on them.
These individuals face life imprisonment for committing crimes under a number of articles.
Addendum
In October 2023, the SBI completed an investigation of a large-scale case against the former state leadership for organizing the dispersal and shooting of demonstrators on Maidan on February 18-20, 2014. The indictment was sent to court. Among the defendants in the case are also former Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Vitaliy Zakharchenko and acting Head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv Valeriy Mazan.
