By KYIV. May 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Former Interior Ministry officials who fled the country will be tried in absentia in Ukraine, they are accused of illegally supplying special equipment, as well as using them to suppress protests in February 2014, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine reported.
“At the request of PGO prosecutors, the court decided to conduct special proceedings – in absentia against the former Interior Minister of Ukraine, one of his deputies and the ex-director of the department of material support of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine. This will allow for a trial and make a final decision without the participation of the accused,” the statement said.
It does not include the names of the defendants. In January 2014, the Interior Ministry of Ukraine was headed by Vitaliy Zakharchenko.
According to the PGO, the investigation found out that in January 2014, the former law enforcement officers organized the supply of special equipment to the Interior Ministry units – more than 13,000 grenades made in the Russian Federation.
“Further on, the defendants organized the use of these special means, which were not in service with the ministry, by law enforcement officers to the protesters on February 18-19, 2014 in the central part of Kyiv. As a result, 127 protesters were injured,” the PGO notes.
At present, at the request of the prosecution, the court has decided to transfer some of these grenades, which were not used on the protesters, to the National Police of Ukraine to deter the military aggression of the Russian Federation.
