More than ten years have passed since Ukraine experienced the revolutionary events on the Independence Square, but many cases related to these events are still going through the courts without verdicts. This became the cause of serious public concern and criticism in relation to the Ukrainian justice system.
July 4, 2024. In the empty hall of the Svyatoshyn district court are sitting four former security guards of the 1st company of the Kyiv Berkut. They are accused of abuse of power and official authority due to the attack on Avtomaidan on January 23, 2014. Then, according to the investigation, the capital's "Berkutivites" were involved as a power unit in the operation to lure the "automaidans" to the territory of the 17th hospital with the help of aunts, under the coordination of the capital's police leadership.
The people of Exberkut are directly accused of exceeding their authority, causing bodily harm and illegally detaining the participants of "Avtomaidan", beating them, damaging their vehicles and illegally taking them to the regional police department, where, based on their reports and statements given as witnesses, the activists were accused of mass riots. Later, the cases against the "automaidans" were closed, and the involved law enforcement officers sat on the docks instead.
Not counting the commander of the "Berkuta" company Dobrovolskyi, whose case was considered separately, 9 people . Five dropped out of the process — two were mobilized, and the other two were closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Another one, according to his lawyer, is on military training abroad, having joined the Armed Forces.
At the meeting, the defense asks to close the proceedings against 4 more people - Posvystak, Loboda, Vozniuk and Ponomarenko (the last one is in training) due to the expiration of the terms.
10 years - and justice is powerless
This is not an isolated case. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, as of June 2024, there were 196 criminal proceedings in courts of all instances from the conditional collection of "Maidan Cases" against 333 people. As for 219 people, i.e. 66% of those involved , the statute of limitations stipulated by the Criminal Code has already expired.
Maidan cases do not cover any specific articles, the qualification of crimes is determined by the totality of collected evidence. In the same proceeding, there may be particularly serious crimes — deliberate killings of protesters, committing a terrorist act, etc., and less serious crimes, such as obstructing meetings or exceeding official powers. So, in particular, the prosecutors of the SBI have combined 2,195 related criminal proceedings into one large proceeding.
Extras in these proceedings — former law enforcement officers, officials, and others — are charged with committing a combination of especially serious, serious, and minor crimes.
But the fact is that the statute of limitations for prosecution for minor crimes, which make up the bulk of Maidan cases, is only 5 years. That is, he surfaced back in 2019. For serious crimes, this term is 7 years — such proceedings began to be closed in 2021. Now we are talking about the end of the 10-year statute of limitations for committing a particularly serious crime .
So far, the courts have issued decisions to close criminal proceedings against 79 people. Of them, 68 were released from criminal liability precisely because of the expiration of the statute of limitations (although these decisions are appealed in appeals/cassation).
In contrast, as of the end of May 2024, 64 guilty verdicts were passed against 78 people. Only 29 of them were sentenced to actual imprisonment.
Despite the overdue deadlines, law enforcement officers continue to raise suspicions and send indictments to court. There can be two results:
- the accused agrees to the closing of the case due to the expiration of the terms, and then the case is considered closed for non-rehabilitative reasons;
- does not agree - and then he is tried in general, potentially found guilty, but in the verdict, most likely, there will be an exemption from punishment.
"10 years have passed, and with them the petition to close the criminal proceedings and release them from liability due to the statute of limitations ," said Ivan Babenko, the prosecutor in the Berkut case.
Unfortunately, these cases have been in the courts for too long. The defense side took all possible measures, in particular, carried out so-called procedural diversions to prolong the proceedings. Ivan Babenko, the prosecutor in the case of the Berkut residents
Does it make sense to continue to consider these court cases? The continuation of the investigation and the courts means that each episode will be given a proper legal assessment.
"The Maidan, the Revolution of Dignity are key, turning points in the recent history of Ukraine. It is necessary for the courts to verify and evaluate the evidence of the investigation and the defense and record their assessment of those events in the verdict ," says Yevgenia Zakrevska, a lawyer and representative of the families of the Nebesnaya Sotna.
This is needed not only by us, not only by the victims. The next generations need it. I am convinced that these judgments, these case materials should become the property of the museum and be studied later in school. This is necessary so that our true history is known in Ukraine and abroad, and so that it is difficult to rewrite it. Evgenia Zakrevska, representative of the families of the Heavenly Hundred
The special department of the State Bureau of Investigation, which deals with Maidan affairs, began work only in 2020. Then he was handed over 12,000 volumes from the Prosecutor General's Office, which had been investigated by prosecutors of other bodies for 6 years and whose terms for minor crimes had already expired. Despite this, the SBI notified 276 people of suspicion and sent indictments to the court against 237.
Under any scenario of the development of events, the accused will be considered to have been brought to criminal responsibility, and the victims will have the right to file a lawsuit and demand compensation.
" Closing the case on non-rehabilitative grounds allows the victims to file a civil lawsuit to recover damages from the perpetrators and civil defendants. And at least during the civil process, partially provide a legal assessment of the Maidan events. Although it will be much more difficult for the victims , "said lawyer Zakrevska.
A sentence without "real" punishment can be negative for a person's reputation, but if he is released from criminal responsibility, he is not considered convicted - such a person does not have any procedural consequences.
Does it make a difference for the participants which option to choose? According to prosecutor Babenko, one of the 9 defendants — Dushenko — did not file a motion to close the proceedings, because he continues to serve in law enforcement agencies, and the fact of being held criminally liable could be an obstacle here.
In addition, the statute of limitations has been suspended in criminal proceedings where the suspects were wanted. Therefore, those involved in the Maidan cases, who are hiding in the occupied lands, in Russia or elsewhere, should not hope that their crimes will be forgotten.
