You're reading: Manger served new notice of suspicion in Gandziuk case

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has issued a new notice of suspicion to Kherson regional council chairman Vladyslav Manger, who is a suspect in the murder of Kherson activist Kateryna Gandziuk, PGO Spokesman Andriy Lysenko has said.

“The pretrial investigation of Manger has changed the notice of suspicion to Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 121 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, to him being the organizer of the crime committed by a group of persons by prior agreement. Suspicion was changed based on evidence and grounds available to the investigation,” Lysenko said on Facebook on April 25 morning.

Lysenko said that, based on new evidence, suspicion was also changed to Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 121 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code of Ukraine to five more accused in this case – Viacheslav Vyshnevsky, Viktor Horbunov, Volodymyr Vasianovych, Mykyta Hrabchuk, and Serhiy Torbin.

Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky district court has left one more person suspect in the Handziuk case, Ihor Pavlovsky, in pretrial custody.

“Relatives and lawyers of the deceased agree with the actions of investigators,” Lysenko said.

As reported by the Slіdstvo.Info publication, Manger is not accused of ordering Gandziuk’s murder, but of ordering an assault on her. If convicted, he could face from seven to ten years in jail.

Manger was earlier accused of organizing a murder and premeditated murder. If convicted of that offense, he could have been imprisoned from 10 to 15 years or life imprisonment.

As reported, an unidentified young man splashed acid onto Gandziuk in Kherson early on July 31, 2018. She was hospitalized locally and airlifted to a Kyiv hospital the following day.

On August 1, 2018, investigators changed the article of the Criminal Code under which the crime is being investigated from “intentional serious bodily harm committed with the aim of intimidating the victim” to “attempted murder with extreme atrocity.”

Reports appeared on November 4, 2018, that Gandziuk had died.