Kyiv’s Pecherskyy district court has arrested policeman Vasyl Melnykov suspected of assaulting a far-right C14 group activist outside a police station on 9 February, judge Vita Bortnytska has said.
Melnykov allegedly kicked an activist while shouting “Lie down, bandera [reference to WWII Ukrainian nationalist ideologist Stepan Bandera]”.
Thus the court has upheld the motion filed by prosecution and the State Investigation Bureau to put the suspect into custody for 60 days.
The court said that Melnykov can be bailed out for 115,000 hryvnyas, or about 4,200 dollars.
His lawyer told the court that the policeman has a 2-year-old child and that the officer was hurt by tear gas during the scuffle.
On 9 February, police detained at least 50 people in central Kyiv. Around 20 activists and three policemen were hurt as a result of the scuffles.