Court of Appeals imposes suspended sentence on Sternenko
Odesa-based Court of Appeals dropped the charges against activist Serhiy Sternenko under the article of assault related to robbery against deputy of Lyman village council Serhiy Scherbych, and imposed a suspended sentence under the article on illegal handling of weapons.
The court announced relevant ruling on Monday, having considered in essence the appeal against the verdict against the activists Sehiy Sternenko and Ruslan Demchuk in the case of the abduction of the deputy of Kominternivsky district council of Odesa region Serhiy Scherbych.
"The verdict of Prymorsky District Court of Odesa in relation to Sternenko [...] to cancel in part of the conviction under Part 2 of Article 187 of the Criminal Code [assault related to robbery] and to close the proceedings in this part due to the failure to establish sufficient evidence of guilt [...] To release Sternenko [...] from serving the sentence under Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code [illegal handling of weapons] with a probation period of one year," the court said in the verdict.
The court found unproven guilt of Sternenko in the commission of a crime under Article 187 of the Criminal Code, that is, in the commission of a robbery on Scherbych. The Court of Appeals found the victim's testimony in this part of the accusation untenable.
"Under Part 2 of Article 187, the court closes the criminal proceedings [...] Sufficient evidence has not been established," the court said in its ruling.
As for the charges under Article 146 of the Criminal Code (unlawful imprisonment or kidnapping of a person), the court confirmed it, but at the same time changed the motivation part, indicating the absence of selfish motives. At the same time, the statute of limitations for bringing to responsibility under this article has already expired, due to which the appellate court released Sternenko from serving his sentence.
As regards the charges under Article 263 of the Criminal Code (illegal handling of weapons) Sternenko was found guilty, the court sentenced him to three years in prison with a replacement for one year of probation.
