New court hearing in the case of Ukrainian National Guard serviceman Vitaliy Markiv, who is accused in Italy of murdering Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, in 2014, will be held on May 17, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kateryna Zelenko has said.
“The court hearings continue. The next hearing is scheduled for May 17. We hope that witnesses will be examined during the hearing,” she said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
She said that Markiv has visitors regularly. Relatives can visit him and he has the right to call to his wife in Ukraine.
As reported, Markiv, a citizen of Ukraine and Italy, was detained in Italy on June 30, 2017 on suspicion of murdering Rocchelli near Sloviansk, Donetsk region in May 2014.
At the end of February 2018, Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Yenin said Ukraine has no complaints about the investigation of the Markiv case, but relies on the objectivity of the Italian side in this matter and consent to create a joint investigation team.
On July 6, 2018, the first court hearing took place.
