Murder suspect Antonenko to remain in jail amid growing support

Andriy Antonenko was denied on Dec. 23 his appeal to
the Kyiv Appellate Court to be released from jail on his own recognizance, the
pravda.com.ua news site said. Antonenko is accused of being the main organizer
of the plot to murder journalist Pavel Sheremet, including having participated
in placing the lethal explosive under the car he was driving. A musician who
performed for Ukrainian soldiers in Donbas, Antonenko has denied any
involvement in the murder and argues he has been made a scapegoat, drawing
increasing support from Ukraine’s pro-Western forces since he was arrested on
Dec. 14.

More than 50 leading Ukrainian intellectuals and
cultural leaders signed an appeal to the Ukrainian Parliamentary Human Rights
Ombudsman Liudmyla Denisova to take the criminal case against Antonenko and
four other suspects under her personal control. “In our opinion, the actions of
state bodies demonstrated serious violations of the basic principles of human
rights, above all the presumption of innocence, which is an inseparable part of
human rights, particularly the right to freedom, the right to respect for human
dignity and the right to life,” the statement said.

“The naming of suspects in this case during a press
briefing – with the participation of the president, the prosecutor general, and
the interior minister – occurred with serious violations to legal norms. It can
be assessed as a manipulation of public opinion for the creation of the
impression that the named suspects are the undeniable organizers and
participants in the murder,” said the statement, published on Dec. 23, issued
by the Ukrainian Pen Centre and signed by intellectuals such as Archbishop
Borys Gudziak, among the founders of Ukrainian Catholic University; Serhii
Plokhii, the director of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute; and Halyna
Koynash, a member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.

Zenon Zawada: Antonenko’s
case has taken on international importance partly because of the victim
involved (pro-Western journalist and Russian citizen Pavel Sheremet), but also
because the entire Zelensky administration has staked its reputation on
Antonenko’s guilt as the main organizer, a claim that is being increasingly
questioned by Ukraine’s leading intellectuals and rights advocates. That
President Zelensky has personally endorsed the claims made (offering a
statement at the scandalous briefing accusing Antonenko and four others)
indicates that he isn’t exercising independent judgment (amid such questionable
evidence) and is beholden to numerous interests behind the scenes.

The Antonenko accusation also throws into question
Zelensky’s commitment to rule of law, amid other recent developments, such as high-profile criminal suspects being
released from house arrest.
Meanwhile, Antonenko was denied release, despite having relatively less
resources to flee abroad as compared to those state officials who were
released. He also claims to have an ill child needing his care. Evidence
indicates that Antonenko is a convenient scapegoat because of circumstantial
evidence, such as his mobile phone being off on the night of the murder and his
residence being close to where the bomb was planted in the car Sheremet was
driving.