Sheremet Murder: Investigators Seeking Assistance to Locate Key Witness

Investigators have established that there might be a witness who saw suspects who allegedly installed the car bomb which killed Ukrayinska Pravda journalist Pavel Sheremet. Police are asking for help with contacting this witness.

"Yes, we have a possible witness. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet established his identity. That is why we are urging journalists and people watching this video to ask this person to call our hotline or 102 [a short number for calling police in Ukraine]. His evidence might be very important to us and to the success of the investigation," — stated Dmytro Holovin, the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police during a press briefing in Kyiv.

"It is a young man, approximately 180 cm tall. His black backpack has two reflective stripes. He was walking on Franko Street at 2:44 AM on July 20 in the direction opposite to the one from which the alleged perpetrators arrived," — Holovin stated.

Holovin asked anybody possessing the relevant information to call +38044 279 6600, +38044 271 9732 or 102. Earlier Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated that the National Police is ready to pay ₴200,000 for information related to the murder of Pavel Sheremet.

Pavel Sheremet, one of the leading journalists of Ukrayinska Pravda, died on the morning of July 20, 2016 after his car, owned by the Founding Editor of Ukrayinska Pravda Olena Prytula, exploded. The IED used to blow up the journalist’s car was installed close to the driver’s seat.

Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko named the professional activity of Sheremet as the main motive of the assassination. On July 22 the case was transferred to the Main Investigations Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The procedural guidance is performed by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

On July 22, the video footage of the alleged planting of a car bomb under the driver’s seat of Sheremet’s car was leaked to the media. The police are investigating the leakage.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda