Four ex-Berkut Officers Detained

The General Prosecutor’s Office (GPU) detained four ex-Berkut officers suspected of killings in the crackdown on Maidan protests, as GPU press-secretary Larysa Sargan reported on her Facebook page [ed.: the text of this Facebook post is in the Ukrainian language].

"We detained four ‘Berkut’ special riot police officers, as we suspect them of committing crimes and performing illegal orders on February 18, 2014 in Kyiv," Sargan noted. In particular, the ‘Berkut’ officers are suspected of inflicting grievous bodily harm to 35 protesters, and ‘intentional homicide of two and more persons.’

Sargan informed that the court had put all the suspected persons into jail while pre-trial investigation is ongoing. "It is worth mentioning that all of them are now serving police officers," press-secretary highlighted.

The GPU continues to investigate killings of Maidan protesters in February 2014. Nine ex-Berkut officers are being kept in custody awaiting trial.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda