Court again detains ex-defendant in case on May 2, 2014 events in Odesa
Prymorsky District Court of Odesa has arrested Russian national Yevgeny Mefedov, who is one of the suspects in a criminal inquiry into the May 2, 2014 events in Odesa, until January 18, 2018.
According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, the court made such a decision during a closed session on Friday, December 29. Journalists were able to stay in the courtroom when the presiding judge announced the results of the consideration of a petition by the prosecutor's office to take Mefedov into custody.
On December 14, Prymorsky District Court of Odesa ordered Mefedov's release from custody.
Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office told Interfax-Ukraine that the issue concerns the measure of restraint as part of a joint criminal proceeding under Article 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine), Article 109 (actions aimed at violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of state power) and Part 1, Article 14, Part 1, Article 294 (preparation for riots) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which is managed by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) office in Odesa region.
"The measure of restraint was cancelled for the purpose of [Mefedov's] further exchange for Ukrainian servicemen and other persons illegally held in the territory of criminal groups [in occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions]," the prosecutor's office said, adding that together with the SBU office in Odesa region, it keeps this issue under control and takes measures to ensure that as many illegally detained Ukrainian citizens as possible can return home.
Later, it became known that Mefedov had not been exchanged for Ukrainian captives, and, together with about a dozen other Russians, according to one version, should be transferred to Russia through the Foreign Ministry, or, according to another version, exchanged for Ukrainian citizens held not in occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but in Russia.
Forty-eight people were killed and over 200 injured during mass riots in Odesa on May 2, 2014. Most victims perished in the local House of Trade Unions.
