Not oligarch Yaroslavskyi, but his stand-in bodyguard convicted over deadly car crash
A court in Kharkiv has handed down a verdict in the case of concealing a crime in the fatal accident with the motorcade of businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavskyi, convicting two men, according to the Judicial Power portal, Andrii Ligus and Oleksandr Berezhnyi.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Suspilne. Kharkiv.
According to the newspaper, two men were convicted in the case of concealing the crime of the accident with Yaroslavsky's motorcade:
- a native of the Ukrainian Donetsk region, a citizen of Ukraine, with a university degree, married with a minor child, works as a duty administrator at BaDM LLC;
- a native of Dergachi, Kharkiv region, a citizen of Ukraine, with a secondary specialised education, married, unemployed.
Details of the accident involving Yaroslavskyi's motorcade
According to the verdict, a native of Ukraine was driving a technically sound Mercedes-Benz G-63 AMG on the evening of 9 February 2022. He was driving on a wet road at a speed of 113 km/h.
A pedestrian was on the carriageway on the 534 km + 200 m section of the route in a semi-sitting position in a close to vertical position wearing dark clothes without reflective elements. The collision occurred at 10:55 p.m..
The driver failed to take immediate measures to reduce his speed and hit the pedestrian, then ran over the body, having no technical ability to avoid hitting the pedestrian.
It is noted that as a result of the accident, the pedestrian sustained severe injuries to his head, limbs, torso, numerous injuries to internal organs, including ruptured heart, lungs, spleen, left kidney, liver, etc.
Investigators found that on 9 February 2022 at 11:21 p.m., the driver called a native of Dergachi, who was later convicted of concealing the crime with him, and told him about an accident with a Mercedes-Benz G-63 AMG, which had mechanical damage, and asked the interlocutor to drive a Porsche to his address.
"The man drove in the direction of Martove, and on 10 February, between 00:25 and 00:34, when he was driving 534 km + 200 m of the road where the accident occurred, he saw the police. At a nearby petrol station, the man learned that a person had died as a result of the accident. At 01:20 a.m. on 10 May, the man arrived at his destination, where the driver told him about the circumstances of the accident, without mentioning the consequences of the accident. He asked PERSON_5 to inform law enforcement agencies that it was PERSON_5 who was driving the Mercedes-Benz G-63 AMG involved in the accident in order to conceal the actual circumstances of the act from the pre-trial investigation body," the statement said.
Court decision
More than three years had passed between the accident and the verdict in the case - the statute of limitations on criminal prosecution had expired. Therefore, the driver was acquitted of the charge of endangering life.
On charges of concealing the crime, the driver was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released from serving his sentence on probation with a probationary period of one year.
An accomplice who tried to take the blame after the accident received the same sentence.
The two convicts will have to pay more than 275,000 UAH for the examinations. They also have 30 days to appeal the verdict.
Earlier, Interior Minister Monastyrskyi said that the clothes of the deceased person had disappeared from the list of material evidence in the morgue. However, the items were later found.
Earlier, the media reported that businessman Yaroslavskyi's motorcade had run over a man to death in the Kharkiv region.
The media also reported that Yaroslavskyi's plane had taken off from Ukraine.
DCH stated that Yaroslavskyi was not driving the car that caused the accident.
A driver from DCH, who admitted to being behind the wheel during the fatal accident, was served with a notice of suspicion.
At the same time, Interior Minister Monastyrskyi dismissed Kharkiv police chief Perlin for attempting to falsify the circumstances of the accident involving Yaroslavskyi.
