More than a decade has passed since Ukraine experienced the revolutionary events on Maidan Nezalezhnosti, but many cases related to these events are still languishing in the courts without verdicts. This has caused serious public concern and criticism of the Ukrainian justice system.
July 4, 2024. In the empty courtroom of the Sviatoshynskyi District Court, four former security officers of the 1st Company of the Kyiv Berkut are sitting. They are accused of abusing their power and authority due to the attack on the Automaidan on January 23, 2014. Then, according to the investigation, the capital's Berkut officers were involved as a force unit in the operation to lure the Automaidan activists to the territory of the 17th hospital with the help of aunts, under the coordination of the leadership of the capital's police.
The former Berkut officers are directly accused of abuse of power, causing bodily harm and illegal detention of the participants of the "Automaidan", beating, damaging their vehicles and illegally taking them to the district police department, where, based on their reports and testimonies given as witnesses, the activists were accused of mass riots. Later, the cases against the "Automaidan" members were closed, and the law enforcement officers involved sat on the dock instead.
Not counting the commander of the Berkut company Dobrovolsky, whose case was considered separately, 9 people . Five dropped out of the process - two mobilized, the proceedings against the other two were closed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Another, according to his lawyer, is on military exercises abroad, having joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
At the hearing, the defense requested that the proceedings against 4 more people be closed due to the expiration of the time limits — Posvistak, Loboda, Voznyuk, and Ponomarenko (the latter is on training).
10 years and justice is powerless
This is not an isolated case. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, as of June 2024, there were 196 criminal proceedings in courts of all instances from the conditional collection of "Maidan Cases" against 333 people. For 219 people, that is, 66% of the defendants , the statute of limitations provided for by the Criminal Code has already expired.
The Maidan cases do not cover any specific articles; the qualification of crimes is determined by the totality of the evidence collected. One proceeding may include both particularly serious crimes - the intentional killing of protesters, committing a terrorist act, etc., and non-serious crimes, such as obstructing a meeting or abuse of official authority. Thus, in particular, the State Bureau of Investigation prosecutors combined 2,195 related criminal proceedings into one large proceeding.
The persons involved in these proceedings — former security forces, officials, and others — are suspected of committing a combination of especially serious, serious, and non-serious crimes.
But the thing 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, it expired 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 expiration of the 10-year statute of limitations for committing a particularly serious crime .
So far, courts have ruled to close criminal proceedings against 79 people. Of these, 68 were released from criminal liability precisely because the statute of limitations had expired (although these rulings are being challenged in appeal/cassation).
In contrast, as of the end of May 2024, 64 convictions had been passed against 78 people. Only 29 of them were sentenced to actual imprisonment.
Despite the expired deadlines, law enforcement officers continue to raise suspicions and send indictments to court. There can be two outcomes:
- the accused agrees to the closure of the case due to the expiration of the time limits, and then the case is considered closed for non-rehabilitative reasons;
- does not agree - and then he is tried in the general procedure, potentially found guilty, but the verdict will most likely include 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 ," noted Ivan Babenko, the prosecutor in the Berkut case.
Unfortunately, these cases have been in the courts for too long. The defense has taken all possible measures, including so-called procedural sabotage, to delay the proceedings. Ivan Babenko, prosecutor in the Berkut case
Is there any point in continuing to consider these court cases? Continuing the investigation and trials means that each episode will be given its proper legal assessment.
"Maidan, the Revolution of Dignity are key, turning points in the modern history of Ukraine. It is necessary for the courts to verify, evaluate the evidence of the investigation and defense, and record their assessment of those events in the verdict ," says Yevhenia Zakrevska, a lawyer and representative of the Heavenly Hundred families.
This is necessary not only for us, not only for the victims. This is necessary for future generations. I am convinced that these verdicts, these case materials should become the property of a museum and then be studied in schools. This is necessary so that our true history is known in Ukraine and abroad, and so that it is difficult to rewrite. Yevheniya Zakrevska, representative of the Heavenly Hundred families
The Special Department of the State Bureau of Investigation, which deals with Maidan cases, began work only in 2020. At that time, it was transferred from the Prosecutor General's Office more than 12 thousand volumes, which had been investigated for 6 years by prosecutors from other bodies and whose term for non-serious crimes had already expired. Despite this, the SBI reported suspicions to 276 people and sent indictments to the court against 237.
In any scenario, the accused will be considered criminally liable, 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, to partially provide a legal assessment of the Maidan events. Although this will be much more difficult for the victims ," notes lawyer Zakrevska.
A sentence without a "real" punishment can be negative for a person's reputation, but if they are exempt from criminal liability, they are not considered convicted - no procedural consequences are imposed on such a person.
Is there a difference then for the defendants 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 may be an obstacle here.
In addition, in criminal proceedings where suspects have been declared wanted, the statute of limitations has been suspended. Therefore, those involved in the Maidan cases who are hiding in the occupied territories, in Russia or elsewhere, should not hope that their crimes will be forgotten.
