Sergii Gorbatuk, the head of the in absentia cases department at the Prosecutor General’s Office, late on Oct. 2 accused top Interior Ministry officials of trying to influence and obstruct investigations into police violence and murders during the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution.
Gorbatuk also said that, due to legal problems created by the Verkhovna Rada, prosecutors could have to stop EuroMaidan investigations in November.
“(Interior Ministry officials) are trying to thwart the investigations and are trying to influence them,” Gorbatuk said at a news briefing. “This can be interpreted as pressure on the court.”
Gorbatuk was referring to cases against Volodymyr Hrynyak, the deputy head of the Interior Ministry’s Public Security Department under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and now head of the National Guard’s Public Security Department; Serhiy Pohotov, the first deputy head of the Public Security Department under Yanukovych, and now head of security at state oil and gas firm Naftogaz Ukrainy; Anatoly Seredynsky, the former head of a unit at the Public Security Department and now a deputy head of the National Police’s Preventive Measures Department; and Ihor Babych, a former top official at the Public Security Department and now head of the National Police’s Preventive Measures Department.
Hrynyak, Pohotov, Seredynsky and Babych are accused of organizing a crackdown on EuroMaidan protesters on Feb. 18-19, 2014, when 31 protesters were killed. They are also accused of illegally supplying Russian riot control gear to the Berkut riot police without authorization from Ukraine’s Health Ministry, and giving illegal cash payments to Berkut officers for carrying out operations against demonstrators.
Hrynyak was charged in 2016, while Pohotov, Seredynsky and Babych were charged on Sept. 29. None of the officials have been suspended or fired.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov defended his subordinates on Oct. 2, saying that the charges against Babych were “made up.” National Police Deputy Chief Oleksandr Fatsevych went to the court to support the suspects.
The ministry also dismissed Gorbatuk’s accusations. “We don’t think that voicing a personal position is equivalent to pressuring a court,” Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko told the Kyiv Post, referring to senior officials’ statements about the cases.
Gorbatuk on Oct. 2 published infographics with telephone calls between the suspects, as well as those between them and Berkut riot police officers during the crackdown on the EuroMaidan on Feb. 18-Feb. 19, 2014.
Gorbatuk also released audio recordings between some of the suspects allegedly made in 2016.
In one of them, Hrynyak tells Babych to whom he should give permits for weapons, and instructs him to give a permit to Yuriy Allerov, the head of the National Guard. He also tells Babych to forge permits for weapons and says he will sign them on behalf of other people.
Hrynyak also tells Viktor Hvozd, head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, that he will give him a backdated permit for unauthorized weapons, according to one of the recordings.
However, Shevchenko said that he did not find the evidence published by Gorbatuk to be convincing.
Kyiv’s Pechersk Court was set to consider arresting Pohotov, Seredynsky and Babych on Sept. 29 but delayed the hearings for undisclosed reasons. As of now, Pohotov is only under nighttime house arrest, meaning he could flee during daytime, and there are no restrictions on Seredynsky and Babych.
Nationalist activists on Oct. 2 clashed with pro-government thugs, or “titushki,” who came to the court building to support the suspects.
Gorbatuk also said on Oct. 2 that up to 20 Interior Ministry officials had not been suspended or fired, despite having been charged in EuroMaidan cases.
The Interior Ministry has failed to help the investigators in any way or to carry out internal probes against its employees, Gorbatuk added.
Meanwhile, Elena Storozhuk, a lawyer for killed EuroMaidan protesters’ families, said on Sept. 26 that she had received threats from businesspeople who said they were associates of Avakov.
Previously the Interior Ministry has been accused of protecting ex-Berkut riot police officers charged in EuroMaidan cases.
Top officials of Kyiv police have addressed the courts asking not to suspend Berkut officers, and the police have given positive recommendations to Berkut suspects.
Ex-Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Bahanets has accused Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and his aide Anton Gerashchenko of obstructing the prosecution of Berkut officers. Gerashchenko has praised some of the suspects for their service.
Several ex-Berkut officers suspected in EuroMaidan cases fled Ukraine earlier this year due to what critics suspect to be a favorable attitude from the Interior Ministry and courts.
As many as 42 percent of Yanukovych’s Berkut riot police, known for its brutality during the EuroMaidan, still serve in the police force.
The Prosecutor General’s Office could also have to stop EuroMaidan investigations because its cases must be transferred to the yet-to-be-created State Investigation Bureau by Nov. 20 under the law, Gorbatuk said. However, the bureau has not been created yet.
Moreover, corruption cases against Yanukovych and his allies being investigated by the Prosecutor General’s Office will have to be transferred to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau by Nov. 20, he added. This may have a negative impact on the cases because the NABU does not have the capacity to handle so many cases, according to Gorbatuk.
Gorbatuk said parliament had not made any steps yet to change those deadlines.
