Volodymyr Serba, an official accused of violence against EuroMaidan protesters, has been released without bail for two months by the Zhovtnevyi District Court of Zaporizhia.
Serba is charged with leading a crackdown against a group protesters on Jan. 26, 2014. Around a hundred protesters were injured. The widespread EuroMaidan demonstrations eventually forced former President Viktor Yanukovych to flee to Russia.
If convicted, Serba can be sentenced to from five to eight years in prison.
Serba has been in the wanted list since July 2014 but has only voluntarily appeared in court on July 1. On July 5, the court released him on his own recognizance.
The judge Yuliia Pyvovarova said that “the severity (of the crime) cannot be the only reason to impose the most severe pre-trial restrictions.”
Serba explained that he hasn’t attended court hearings for seven years because he didn’t know about the criminal proceedings against him. According to him, he learned about the case by chance in March 2020, but didn’t want to appear in court to avoid catching COVID-19.
Activists from the Demokratichna Sokyra party, the Capitulation Resistance Movement and the right-wing National Corps protested the decision.
“It’s strange for us why he returned. The only conclusion we can make is that there are agreements, certain security guarantees for Serba, that this case will be decided in his favor. He is involved in the beating of pro-Ukrainian patriots and should be punished,” said Maksym Zaichenko, head of the local branch of the National Corps.
