The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) notes a tendency to delay the consideration of materials by courts on charges in the “Maidan cases” and outlined the importance of making decisions on detention in absentia of the defendants.
“Currently, sentences against 21 people have come into legal force [on charges of crimes committed against participants in the Revolution of Dignity]. We also believe that 21 sentences passed over seven years are very few (…) That is, the issue of delaying the trial is very painful,” Head of the department for “Maidan cases” within the Prosecutor General’s Office Oleksiy Donsky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Nov. 20.
According to Donsky, since the beginning of 2020, more than 2,000 people have been recognized as victims in the “Maidan cases,” some 37 people have been brought to criminal responsibility, including 26 law enforcement officers, three judges, and eight civilians. “A measure of restraint in the form of detention in absentia was chosen against 27 suspects,” he said.
He said the decision on detention in absentia gives grounds for an international search for the accused. We are talking, in particular, about such decisions in relation to former President Viktor Yanukovych, former heads of the Ministry of Defense and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), law enforcement officers at various levels.
