Prosecutors of the Prosecutor General’s Office, together with investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), completed a special pre-trial investigation into former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and 16 former high-ranking officials for usurpation of power and crimes against Maidan, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has said.
"This concerns criminal proceedings against members of a criminal organization created and led by the former President of Ukraine in 2010-2014," the prosecutor general said on Telegram on Wednesday.
According to Kravchenko, he previously served as the head of the group of prosecutors supervising the case concerning Yanukovych’s state treason and personally signed the indictment against him for facilitating the waging of an aggressive war by Russia.
"At that time, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 13 years of imprisonment," Kravchenko said
"Today, this work continues in the case regarding the system built for the illegal seizure, misappropriation, and retention of state power," he said.
Kravchenko said the investigation established that after February 25, 2010, Yanukovych, contrary to the oath of the president of Ukraine, began using the powers granted to him not in the interests of the state and citizens, but to establish personal control over the state apparatus.
"To achieve this, he involved individuals from his entourage who had experience working in state authorities, the law enforcement system, and the security sector into the criminal organization. Participants of this organization received key positions in the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries and departments, law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor’s office, the SBU, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the judicial system, local state administrations, and other state structures," the prosecutor general noted.
These officials, Kravchenko specified, created an appearance of legitimate activity but effectively acted in the interests of the fugitive president or in their own joint interests.
The prosecutor general noted that this system operated in practically all state spheres and regions of the country, enabling the planning and organization of grave and especially grave crimes.
According to him, an important part is the investigation into the events of the Revolution of Dignity.
"In November 2013, after the refusal to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, mass peaceful gatherings of citizens were perceived by the leadership of this organization as a threat to their continued retention of power. Viktor Yanukovych, as the head of the criminal organization, decided to deploy law enforcement agencies and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for forceful opposition against protesters in the center of Kyiv," Kravchenko said.
He added that the organization of these actions was entrusted to under-control heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the SBU, the Ministry of Defense, the General Prosecutor’s Office, and other participants of the criminal organization.
"The consequences were the illegal obstruction of peaceful gatherings, forceful dispersals of protesters, and the most tragic events of February 18-20, 2014, on Maidan," the prosecutor general noted.
In the period from November 21, 2013, to February 20, 2014, as a result of the illegal actions of the members of the criminal organization, 70 civilians died, and more than 1,200 protesters sustained bodily injuries of varying severity.
According to the prosecutor general, 17 former top leaders of state authorities are being held criminally responsible in these proceedings.
"In particular, Viktor Yanukovych, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Internal Affairs and his deputy, the Chairman of the SBU and his first deputy – head of the Anti-Terrorist Center, heads of SBU units, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff – Commander-in-Chief of the AFU, the commander of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the leadership of the capital’s police, officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the commander of the Kyiv special unit Berkut," Kravchenko detailed.
On the initiative of the prosecution, preventive measures in the form of detention were chosen for them.
"Since the suspects are hiding in the territory of the Russian Federation or in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, the pre-trial investigation against them was carried out under the special procedure in absentia," Kravchenko concluded, emphasizing that the completion of the investigation signifies the transition to the next stage of accountability.
