Ukraine will prosecute former president Viktor Yanukovych and the heads of law enforcement agencies of the time in the case of the shooting of protesters on the Maydan, reports the Office of the Prosecutor General.
"Prosecutor General's Office sent an indictment against the former President of Ukraine, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Defence Minister, who organised the commission of a number of serious and especially serious crimes against protesters on 18-20 February, 2014 in the center of Kyiv," the statement said.
The investigation established that the former president of Ukraine, in the period from 21 November, 2013 to 18 February, 2014, in order to illegally obstruct the organisation and holding of rallies, marches and demonstrations in support of the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, at the instigation of representatives of the aggressor state, created an organised criminal group. He involved the former Minister of Internal Affairs and his deputy, the Commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Head of the Security Service and his deputy, the Head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kyiv and his deputy, the commander of the Berkut special police regiment in Kyiv, and the Defence Minister.
It is noted that on 18-20 February 2014, a criminal group led by the former president organised the use of physical violence, firearms, military equipment and special means, including those illegally supplied from the territory of Russia, by law enforcement officers and internal troops, in excess of their official authority, to forcefully counteract and disperse demonstrators.
According to the investigation, in the morning of 18 February 2014, members of a criminal group led by the former president, using the powers, forces and means of the agencies they headed, organised a violent dispersal of participants in a street march to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in support of a vote to return to the 2004 Constitution, which provided for the restriction of the powers of the President of Ukraine. In addition, in the afternoon of 18 February 2014, the defendants organised an assault on Maydan under the guise of an "anti-terrorist operation". And on the morning of 20 February, the protesters were shot by the Berkut special purpose police company subordinated to the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv.
The indictment states that such actions by the former President, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine and heads of law enforcement agencies led to mass casualties among protesters in the central part of Kyiv. This included the deaths of 67 civilians. A total of 887 civilians and 132 law enforcement officers were injured. Property damage in excess of 16mn hryvnas was caused.
It is noted that due to the fact that the former high-ranking officials have been hiding from the prosecution and the court since 2014 in the territory of the Russian Federation, the temporarily occupied Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was carried out in absentia. The court imposed custody as a measure of restraint on all the defendants.
The defendants are charged with organising, as part of a criminal group, the illegal obstruction of meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations, abuse of power and official authority by law enforcement officers, premeditated murders and completed attempted murders, infliction of intentional grievous bodily harm, and organisation of a terrorist act from 18 to 20 February 2014 (Art. 3, Art. 28, Art. 340; Art. 28, para. 3, Art. 27, para. 3, Art. 365; Art. 28, para. 3, Art. 27, para. 1, 5, 12, para. 2, Art. 115, Art. 28, para. 3, Art. 27, para. 2, Art. 15, paras. 1, 5, 12 of Part 2 of Article 115; Part 3 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 121, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The former Head of the SBU and the Commander of the Military Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine were also charged with desertion (Article 408(1) of the Criminal Code).