The Ukrainian Kyiv Court of Appeal recently overturned the acquittal verdict of the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv in a case concerning a former officer of the Berkut Military Police. The officer has been sentenced to six years in prison.
This verdict follows the court’s determination that the former officer intentionally inflicted severe physical pain and both physical and moral suffering to two individuals participating in the Revolution of Dignity. This revolution occurred in Ukraine in February 2014, marking the end of the Euromaidan protests, a time of intense clashes between protesters and Berkut special riot police.
According to a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), these clashes and reliant violence instigated by the police resulted in death and serious injury for many protesters. The OHCHR even suggested that the Ukrainian authorities actively promoted this violence.
The original acquittal verdict was delivered by the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv in 2019, where the defendant was found not guilty due to a deemed lack of evidence to support his alleged criminal offense. Since this initial verdict, the defendant continued his work in the Kharkiv police. However, upon appeal, the case was reconsidered.
Within this appellate hearing, the prosecutor asserted the defendant’s intention to punish both victims of the torture, with one being a minor, for their participation in the 2014 protests. This punishment was reportedly conducted through both beatings, acts of torture, and additional violent actions. The two protesters were thrown from a colonnade, the minor was forcibly undressed in sub-zero temperatures, and subsequently wounded in the right thigh with a blade.
For more details regarding this case, you can read the full story here.