A court has sentenced eight of 64 persons accused in riots during the seizure of the Kharkiv regional administration building on April 6, 2014.
“Pursuant to two criminal cases involving eight persons guilty sentences have been passed. Two individuals have been sentenced to jail terms (five years in prison, house arrest pending final verdict). Some six individuals have been judged pursuant to Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (suspended sentences), Kharkiv region’s press service told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
A representative from the press service said the sentence handed down in October 2016 has been appealed by the accused, who were sentenced to jail terms. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have argued for increasing punishment for the individual with the suspended sentence.
“None of the appeals have been adjudicated,” the press service said, adding the sentence handed down in March can still be appealed.
“The issue of appealing the sentence is still being deliberated,” the press service said, noting that all defendants – 56 – accused of seizing the building have not been tried. Some 15 of them remain on the wanted list.
Criminal proceedings involving 41 persons are underway in lower courts of jurisdiction (five defendants are in pretrial custody, 11 – house arrest, 24 – free on bail and one – set free on his/her own recognizance.
As earlier reported, on April 6, 2014 a group of pro-Russian activists seized the Kharkhiv regional administration building. Some 65 persons were arrested two days later when anti-terrorist operation troops recaptured the building.
