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The pre-trial investigation into former President Viktor Yanukovych and nine former high-ranking officials who organized a violent resistance to protesters in the center of the capital on February 18-20 has been completed.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, UA informs.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the defense was informed that the investigation had been completed and that access to the pre-trial investigation materials had been granted.
“Since the former high-ranking officials have been hiding from the investigation and court since 2014, the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was carried out according to a special (correspondence) procedure” – the statement said.
According to the agency, the investigation found that the ex-president; Former head of the Security Service, Minister of Internal Affairs, head of the Interior Ministry in Kyiv and their deputies, commander of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, commander of the capital’s special police regiment “Berkut” wanted to stop mass protests that threatened to stay at the power of the ex-president.
“Exceeding power and official authority and without legal grounds, they organized the use of physical violence by law enforcement officers and servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, special means, military equipment, firearms for violent resistance and dispersal of demonstrators” – the statement said.
The Prosecutor General’s Office notes that the actions of Yanukovych and the that time law enforcement officials led to mass casualties among protesters in central Kyiv, including the deaths of 67 civilians. A total of 887 civilians and 132 law enforcement officers were injured, as well as property damage in the amount of over UAH 16 million.
More than a thousand episodes of criminal acts have been investigated as part of criminal proceedings. Proceedings number more than 1,500 volumes. The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was carried out by State Bureau of Investigations of Ukraine investigators.
To remind, militiamen reported about suspicion of desertion to the former deputy chief of Management of state protection of Ukraine – the chief of Security service of the ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.
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