Murder charges brought against activist Serhiy Sternenko on June 11 have divided Ukrainian society.
In 2018 Sternenko, a nationalist activist based in Odesa, was assaulted three times. During the third incident he killed the attacker by stabbing him with a knife.
Pro-Russian media and politicians have acclaimed the case as long-awaited justice against a person they see as a nationalist extremist.
But Ukraine’s civil society has mostly opposed the case, with activists and legal experts saying that it is a politically motivated vendetta and a perversion of justice, with genuine self-defense portrayed as murder. Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has denied such accusations.
The former chief prosecutor in the case has said he had been pressured to fabricate charges against Sternenko and refused to do so, casting doubt on the legality of the whole investigation.
Worse still, three attacks against Sternenko – like most other attacks on activists in Ukraine – remain uninvestigated.
Contradicting versions
Sternenko was put under house arrest on June 15 as his supporters clashed with the police outside the courthouse.
He argues that he killed the attacker, Ivan Kuznetsov, when he was defending himself and is therefore exempt from criminal responsibility. Sternenko also called an ambulance, which he says proves he had no intention to kill the attacker.
The investigators claim that Sternenko stabbed Kuznetsov in the heart after he ran about 100 meters away from him, killing him when there was no need for self-defense. According to the investigators, his purpose was revenge and frustration with the attack.
Sternenko’s lawyer Vitaly Tytych described the text of the charges as legal nonsense.
Based on prosecutors’ claims, Sternenko could have been charged under Article 116 of the Criminal Code for a crime of passion, which is punishable with a term of up to five years, Tytych argued. Instead, they charged him with something that is not confirmed even by the text of the charges – premeditated murder under Article 115, which is punishable with a term of up to 15 years, he added.
Dissenting prosecutor
Andriy Radionov, who was formerly the chief prosecutor in the Sternenko case, said during the house arrest hearing that the charges against Sternenko were “unfounded, non-objective and biased.” He said that he refused to sign the charges and had formally complained about pressure on him by Venediktova in the Sternenko case.
As a result, Radionov said he had been kicked out of the group of prosecutors in the Sternenko case. Venediktova and the Prosecutor General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Radionov said in a complaint obtained by the Kyiv post that Venediktova’s public statements were a threat to his independence and an attempt to unlawfully interfere in the investigation. Venediktova said in April that Sternenko would be charged in any case.
Tytych argued that, due to the prosecutor’s testimony, the whole alleged evidence against Sternenko was inadmissible. He said he would file a motion with the European Court of Human Rights, which he was sure would rule in favor of Sternenko.
Another problem is that house arrest for Sternenko was considered by Judge Volodymyr Buhil, who was accused of unlawfully trying EuroMaidan activists and denies the accusations of wrongdoing. Sternenko, in turn, was an active participant of the EuroMaidan Revolution, which he argued was a conflict of interest for the judge.
However, the judge refused to be recused.
Three assaults
Yet another problem is that Sternenko is being charged as all three attacks on him remain uninvestigated. The organizers in none of the attacks have been identified.
In the first attack, no perpetrators were identified by the police.
In the second case, the attacker, Abzal Baikumashev, was arrested on the spot but the case has so far seen no progress.
According to official testimony, Baikumashev had arrived in a car belonging to Ruslan Forostyak, an aide to Dmytro Golovin, then head of Odesa Oblast’s police department. Forostyak denied being implicated in the crime.
In the third attack, a second alleged attacker apart from the one killed by Sternenko, Oleksandr Isaikul, was later arrested but then released and fled Ukraine.
Roman Sinitsyn, an activist and an ally of Sternenko, believes that both police officials and Odesa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov could be linked to the attacks on Sternenko, who has been critical of city authorities. The police and Trukhanov’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Many activists have been attacked in Odesa in recent years, with some of them blaming the assaults on Trukhanov and his allies Vladimir Galanternik and Alexander Angert. The mayor denies the accusations. Meanwhile, Golovin was seen as a close ally of Trukhanov.
Sternenko myth
Sternenko, as a Ukrainian nationalist, has consistently criticized pro-Russian forces. He was the head of the Odesa branch of the Right Sector, a nationalist group, in 2014 to 2017.
The Sternenko case has become more and more high-profile as pro-Russian politicians and media increasingly demanded that he be jailed for murder. These include ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s ex-Deputy Chief of Staff Andriy Portnov, blogger Anatoly Shariy and the strana.ua news site.
“Pro-Russian and Russian media, the Opposition Platform and Portnov have turned Sternenko into the epitome of EuroMaidan activists and the Right Sector,” Sinistyn said. “He’s an ideal target for them to bully.”
The case can also be considered revenge by Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, of whom Sternenko has been highly critical, Sinistsyn said. Sternenko has regularly organized rallies for Avakov’s resignation.
Avakov’s spokeswoman Natalia Stativka declined to comment.
In March Avakov met with Venediktova to discuss the Sternenko case despite the fact that it is being investigated by the Security Service of Ukraine, not the police.
“I believe the main factor (behind the case) is Avakov, as well as (Sternenko’s) increasing popularity as a critical blogger,” said Mykhailo Zhernankov, head of DEJURE Foundation, a legal think-tank.
