Euromaidan activist placed under house arrest after named murder suspect

A Kyiv district court judge decided on Apr. 16 to
place Euromaidan leader and former MP Tetiana Chornovol under 24-hour house
arrest for two months. Chornovol has been issued a notice of suspicion in the
alleged murder of an elderly employee at the central Kyiv headquarters of the
defunct Party of Regions. Her lawyers argued that she has been unjustifiably
named a murder suspect and that the State Bureau of Investigations (DBR)
shouldn’t be handling the criminal case. They also allege the notoriously
scandalous judge in the case, Serhiy Vovk, is conspiring with the DBR.

The morning of Apr. 10, DBR investigators visited
Chornovol’s home to search her residence and issue her a notice of suspicion in
the alleged murder. They found a firearm in the search, the DBR press service
said. The prosecution alleges Chornovol participated in the arson fire of the
party headquarters on Feb. 18, 2014 during the Euromaidan protest that led to
the employee’s death. Her presence is not confirmed by the extensive video
evidence of the attack, in which many participants concealed their faces. The
DBR investigators were looking for clothing in Chornovol’s home that could be
linked to the attack, said European Solidarity MP Mykola Kniazhytskiy, as
reported by pravda.com.ua.

DBR investigators issued a notice of suspicion to the
former director of the Kharkiv administration of the Security Service of
Ukraine (SBU), who attacked a Euromaidan activist in June 2015, its press
service said. The criminal case, in which the SBU officer stopped the
activist’s car in cetral Kyiv and engaged in a physical attack, involves the
gross violation of civil order. 

Zenon Zawada: Chornovol’s
arrest is significant because it reflects the chaotic environment that has
emerged under Zelensky’s rule, in which the various oligarchic clans pursue
their limited interests above the national interest. Billionaire Ihor
Kolomoisky is currently blocking Ukraine’s attempts to secure a critical loan program.
Now the Yanukovych clan, currently being represented by lawyer Andriy Portnov,
is pursuing prosecution of Euromaidan activists, without nearly any of the
hundreds of crimes committed there having been solved in the last five years.
These players are taking advantage of Zelensky’s lack of leadership and
strategy.

Scores of rioters were involved in the attack on the
headquarters building that day. If Chornovol was among them, she was entirely
disguised. Moreover, it would be nearly impossible to prove that it was her
Molotov cocktail that caused the death. It would be even more difficult to
prove that she had that intent. So we share the view that is held by her
allies, including former President Poroshenko and Internal Affairs Minister
Arsen Avakov, that this is about political persecution and revenge. We don’t
think this case will reach anything more than a show trial, if that.

Finally, we believe the DBR pursuing a criminal
case against a man who attacked the Euromaidan activist is an attempt to offset
any public disapproval of the prosecution of Chornovol, particularly among
pro-Western forces. It’s an attempt to dispel the claims that it’s a law
enforcement body interested in revenge against the Euromaidan.