Murder of Heavenly Hundred: Law enforcement officers complete investigation of Maidan case

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have completed the investigation of a major case against the former leadership of Ukraine for organising the dispersal and shooting of demonstrators on 18-20 February 2014 (known as the "Heavenly Hundred" -ed.). Prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office sent the court an indictment of Viktor Yanukovych, former president of Ukraine, and of members of the then security forces of the country.

Source: State Bureau of Investigation, Prosecutor General's Office

Details: The following criminal group members – former high-ranking officials – are accused of committing serious crimes:

• President of Ukraine (Viktor Yanukovych);
• Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Vitalii Zakharchenko);
• Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Viktor Ratushniak);
• Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (Oleksandr Yakymenko);
• First deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine – head of the Anti-Terrorist Centre (Volodymyr Totskyi);
• Minister of Defence of Ukraine (Pavlo Lebeiev);
• Head of the Main Department – commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (Stanislav Shuliak);
• Acting head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv (Valerii Koriak);
• Deputy head of the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine – head of the Public Security Police (Petro Fedchuk);
• Commander of the Berkut Police tactical unit at the Main Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv(Serhii Kusiuk).

It has been established that on 18-20 February 2014, these officials gave orders and made appropriate decisions on the use of special means, military equipment, and firearms by law enforcement officers in order to forcefully counteract and disperse demonstrators in the centre of the capital and to stop protest actions; those decision were taken without proper grounds and in violation of the norms of the current legislation.

Officials also organised an assault on the Maidan under the guise of an "anti-terrorist operation" and on the morning of 20 February ordered that the protesters be shot. This was done in an abuse of power and official authority and without legal grounds.

Such actions by the former president and former law enforcement officials led to mass casualties among protesters in the central part of Kyiv, including the death of 67 civilians. A total of 887 people and 132 law enforcement officers were injured. More than UAH 16 million (about US$417,000) of property damage was caused by this clash.

To avoid responsibility, the former officials fled from Ukraine, so the pre-trial investigation was carried out in accordance with a special procedure, and the investigating judge chose to impose preventive detention on them.

These criminal proceedings cover 1,019 episodes of criminal obstruction of protest actions and include 1,878 volumes of collected materials.

The former president and leaders of the security forces are accused of organising, between 18 and 20 February 2014 and as part of a criminal group, the illegal obstruction of meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations, the abuse of power and of official authority by law enforcement officers, premeditated murders and attempted murders, causing intentional grievous bodily harm, and organising a terrorist act.

The pre-trial investigation also established that the former head of the Security Service of Ukraine and the commander of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine had served in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR, and, as a result, acquired Russian citizenship, gained access to military and state secrets of the Russian Federation, took the oath of allegiance to its people and received all types of support in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

By ordering the use of violence against the protesters, they acted in the interests of the Russian Federation, to which they had taken an oath of allegiance.

Given that some of the defendants are hiding in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, they will be taken into custody and brought to justice immediately after the liberation of these territories by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the SBI said.

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