Ukraine Moves Slowly to Convict Euromaidan Killers

Former Berkut officers Serhiy Zinchenko, Pavlo Abroskin and Serhiy Tamtura on trial at the Svyatoshynskiy district court in Kyiv in November 2017. Photo: Anastasia Vlasova/Hromadske.

Suspects still working as police officers

The Prosecutor General's Office insists that most of the Euromaidan crimes have already been solved - meaning that it has established the circumstances of the killings and who the organisers and direct perpetrators were.

There are 66 suspects for the Euromaidan killings but in some cases, specific perpetrators have not yet been established.

Meanwhile, 36 suspects continue to work in law enforcement, ten of them in leadership positions. These are people who are accused of organising the murders. In Kyiv alone, former Berkut officers make up 30 per cent of the police force, and some of their names appear in criminal cases.

"[This affects] the attitude of those who could testify," said Serhiy Horbatiuk in December 2018, when he was Director of Special Investigations at the Prosecutor General's Office.

Some officers who have been identified via video using excessive force against Euromaidan protesters have been charged, but are still working on the force. Horbatiuk suggested that this could put pressure on colleagues who might testify against them.

Any potential witness "understands that his colleague or manager who is a suspect continues to work, so any real evidence does not lead to the law enforcement agencies replacing these people", Horbatiuk pointed out.

Memorial in Kyiv for Euromaidan activists killed in 2014. Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO.

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