Pukach deprived of lieutenant general rank, obliged to pay UAH 600,000 in moral damages
Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has ruled to deprive former chief of the external surveillance department of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, Oleksiy Pukach, of the rank of lieutenant general, as well as obliged him to pay UAH 500,000 to Myroslava Gongadze, the wife of murdered journalist Georgy Gongadze, and UAH 100,000 to journalist Oleksiy Podolsky for moral damages.
"The court sentenced Pukach to life in prison considering the crimes committed by him – abuse of power, premeditated murder on preliminary collusion," reads the resolution part of the verdict that was announced by presiding judge Andriy Melnyk on Tuesday.
The court also deprived Pukach of the rank of lieutenant general.
The court also ruled to oblige Pukach to pay UAH 500,000 to Myroslava Gongadze and UAH 100,000 to journalist Oleksiy Podolsky, who represented the injured party in the case, for moral damage.
Journalist and public activist Oleksiy Podolsky was attacked and kidnapped in June 2000. The investigation discovered that Pukach was directly involved in this crime.
Kyiv's Pechersky District Court sentenced Pukach to life in prison for killing journalist Georgy Gongadze.
Appeal against the verdict can be file to a relevant court within 15 days from the date on which it was handed down.