Court extends pre-trial detention for five ex-Berkut soldiers charged with murder of Maidan activists

Sviatoshynskyi district court of Kyiv extended pre-trial detention for five former members of Berkut riot police who were charged with mass murder of Euromaidan activists.

As reported by Censor.NET citing 112 Ukraine TV channel, the next hearing has been scheduled for May 16.

Before the ruling was announced, the suspects asked the court to allow them to stay out of the prisoner's glass box saying that it was almost impossible to communicate with their lawyers.

The defense also twice appealed to the court to impose a pre-trial restriction on ex-Berkut soldiers other than detention.

As reported, 26 Berkut officers have been indicted for being involved in the killings of Maidan activists on Instytutska Street in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2014. Five of them have been arrested and tried, while more than 20 have escaped.

The PGO referred the criminal proceedings against former Berkut riot police officers Zinchenko and Abroskin to court in 2014. They are suspected of shooting 39 Maidan activists on Instytutska street in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2014. On Feb. 10, 2016, the PGO announced the investigation completed and sent criminal proceeding against three other former Berkut officers, Oleksandr Marinchenko, Serhii Tamtura, and Oleh Yanyshevskyi to court. According to the prosecutor's office, these persons are charged with committing a terrorist act, abuse of official duties, murder, attempted murder, obstruction of peaceful meetings and rallies, as well as abstraction and concealment of weapons after the crime. Criminal proceedings against all former Berkut officers are combined into one case.