Dispersal of Maidan: Court closed case against two ex-Berkut members Betlii and Kozachyshyn due to expiry of periods of limitations
The Dniprovskyi Court of Kyiv closed the case of ex-Berkut members Vadym Betlii and Oleh Kozachyshyn over the dispersal of Maidan on November 30, 2013, due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for prosecution.
This was reported by the NGO "Advocacy Advisory Group", Censor.NET reports with reference to Ukrinform.
"In its decision, the court did not evaluate the evidence and did not establish the guilt of the accused. The victim's representative, Oksana Mikhalevych, filed an appeal against this decision," the activists noted.
According to the NGO, in 2013, Betlii and Kozachyshyn were policemen of the 1st division of the 2nd platoon of the 4th operational company of the Kyiv Berkut.
The Lawyers' Advisory Group informed that they were accused of executing a clearly criminal order, by prior conspiracy, by a group of persons: exceeding their official authority with the use of physical force and special means against citizens, which caused grave consequences (Art. 2 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 41, Part 2 of Article 365 of the CCU); committed official forgery, namely, falsified a report (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 41, Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code); illegally obstructed a peaceful assembly (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 41, Article 340 of the Criminal Code).
It is noted that this case was transferred to the Pechersk Court in 2020, and after a number of challenges, it was transferred to another court. Therefore, since March 2021, this proceeding has been heard by Judge Iryna Halyha of the Dnipro Court. There was one victim in the case.
According to the NGO, Betlii and Kozachyshyn were charged with medium-sized crimes - obstructing a peaceful action and falsifying a report - for which the statute of limitations expired in 2018.
The Advocates' Advisory Group said that the statute of limitations for a serious crime - abuse of power by a law enforcement officer - expired on November 30, 2023.
It is noted that, according to the Criminal Code, the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution for serious crimes is 10 years.
"On December 4, 2023, the Dnipro court was supposed to interrogate the accused. This is the final stage before the debate in the case. However, the defendants filed a motion to close the case due to the expiry of periods of limitations - 10 years since the events of the Maidan dispersal. On December 13, 2023, Judge Iryna Halyha ruled to close the proceedings," the NGO informed.
The Lawyer's Advisory Group explained that the court closed the case due to for circumstances other than exoneration, i.e., it did not acquit the defendants but did not rule that their guilt was proven.
