13:40 16.08.2016

Kyiv court slates Tornado case hearings for August 23 due to hospitalization of defendant

3 min read
Kyiv court slates Tornado case hearings for August 23 due to hospitalization of defendant

Kyiv's Obolonsky district court has rescheduled hearings on the case of former members of the Tornado special patrol police squad for 11:30 Kyiv time on August 23.

The decision was taken by the court on Tuesday in connection with the hospitalization of one of the defendants, lawyer of the defense Volodymyr Yakimov told reporters on the same day.

As was earlier reported, about 1,000 officers of the police and the National Guard of Ukraine were to maintain law and order outside the Obolonsky district court building, which planned to consider the Tornado case on Tuesday.

In June 2015, eight people, including seven members of the Tornado special patrol police squad, were detained in Luhansk region.

Kyiv's Obolonsky district court has been considering the Tornado case since the end of 2015.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced then that he had signed an order to disband the squad.

Tornado's former commander and members are accused of committing grave crimes.

Press secretary of Kyiv's Obolonsky district court Inna Svynarenko said that the court hearings were held behind closed doors as the suspects are accused of crimes against sexual freedom and personal inviolability.

On August 2, 2016, activists and members of some volunteer battalions blocked the exits of the Obolonsky district court, which was scheduled to consider the Tornado case on that day. Then there were clashes when men in the Tornado squad uniforms attempted to throw car tires, flour and bottles with water at police officers and guardsmen who cordoned the court's building while the court hearing was on behind closed doors. Someone tried to climb across the fence. Tear gas was sprayed on the site of the incident.

Chief of Kyiv's National Police Andriy Krishchenko later said that 15 guardsmen and 12 police officers had been poisoned by tear gas during the clashes. In his words, neither police nor the National Guard used the gas.

Later, the National Guard's press service confirmed that the National Guard had not used tear gas, but said that no one of the guardsmen had been poisoned.

On August 6, it was announced that three active participants in the clashes had been informed they were suspected of having committed a breach of public order as a group of people (Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

On August 9, the court postponed hearings due to the absence of a lawyer from the defense of one of the suspects.

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