The lawyer of Ihor Humeniuk, who is accused of throwing a grenade that killed and injured National guardsmen during clashes outside the Ukrainian parliament on Monday, Sydir Kizin, has said that his client is not guilty.
“Yes, he was on the square…At the moment he pleads not guilty,” Kizin said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
He said that there is no evidence which proves that his client threw the grenade.
“There is no proof that he threw the grenade, and the [arrest] protocol reads that no explosives have been withdrawn,” Kizin said.
He said that his client was a participant in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and had just returned from active service when he was detained.
Moreover, he said that Humeniuk was not arrested on Constitution Square, where the clashes occurred, but in the metro and was beaten after the arrest.
The defender said law enforcement officers demanded that Humeniuk confess to being a member of the Svoboda party.
“Under the protocol he was arrested at 20:00, while Avakov [Interior Minister Arsen Avakov] reported about this a few hours later,” Kizin said.
He added that he has seen the protocol on the arrest, according to which his client refused to provide evidence under duress.
