Chornovol case

The Case

Tatiana Chornovol - an active participant of the Revolution of Dignity, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 8th convocation.

During the events of February 18, 2014, she participated in the storming of the office of the Party of Regions on Lipska Street. During this event, office worker Volodymyr Zakharov died. Chornovol was not seen at the place where the body of the deceased was found, she was near the building.

The State Bureau of Investigation accuses her of premeditated murder (Article 115 of the Criminal Code). In the case, there is only evidence of Chornovol's participation in the assault on the "Party of Regions" and no evidence to confirm the organization of arson and intentional murder.

The investigation has been ongoing since 2014, but SBI investigators still have not established all the circumstances of Zakharov's death. The main mass of the case was created during 2014-2016, but activation took place only in 2020.

The investigation was overseen by the head of the State Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Oleksandr Vakulenko and his deputy Hryhoriy Mamka, who is currently a People's Deputy from the Russian political party "Opposition Platform - For Life". In June 2020, it was "OPZZH" together with "Servants of the People" that appealed to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to withdraw the amnesty from Maidan residents. As Chornovol is convinced, she is charged with intentional homicide because this is how she can be prosecuted for the Maidan, since all other articles of the Communist Party of Ukraine are under amnesty.

The SBI established the following cause-and-effect relationship: Chornovol organized the assault, therefore, any consequences are her responsibility. But for the article "intentional murder" this is not enough.

On February 18, 2014, killings by security forces and "aunties" of Maidan residents began in Mariinsky Park. In order to divert the enemy's forces from the Mariinsky Park and the Maidan, the protesters began storming the office of the "Party of Regions" at Lipska 10, as one of the command centers of the "aunties". Tetyana Chornovol was among the protesters, she does not deny this fact.

With this aim, the protesters tried to get into the building, opened the doors, threw incendiary and pyrotechnic devices in order to "smoke out" the workers of the "Party of Regions" office, i.e. to force them to leave the building. At approximately 12:00 a.m., the fire started, the office workers left the building, and the protesters entered the building. The fire was out of control, the workers of the State Emergency Service began to put it out, and after extinguishing the fire, they found the body of Volodymyr Kostyantynovich Zakharov, a technical worker from the office of the Party of Regions.

From the beginning, only Tetyana Chornovol, who by that time had already become a famous person, was recognized among the protesters. In addition, she acted openly and without a mask on her face.

On February 18, 2014, following the discovery of a corpse investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs started a pre-trial investigation under Part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "Intentional murder", also in connection with the storming of the building, articles 121, 122, 125, 126 (bodily injuries of various degrees of severity, beatings) were entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, 294 (mass riots), 146 (kidnapping), 170 (obstructing the activity of a political party) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Investigative actions were actively carried out: witnesses were questioned, expert examinations were ordered, etc.

On August 29, 2014, a statement about the crime was filed by People's Deputy from the "Party of Regions" Yatsenko Anton Volodymyrovych. However, the totality of the evidence did not allow any person to be suspected. Thus, the forensic medical examination pointed to the poisoning of V.K. Zakharov. by products of combustion, as well as by a blow to the head with a hard, blunt object. In addition, the fire-technical examination ruled out a cause-and-effect relationship between the direct actions of Chornovol T.M. (the only recognizable person among the protesters) and the resulting fire (defense position after reading the expert opinion).

Since February 2014, he has been leading the case against Chornovol current People's Deputy from the party "Opposition Platform - For Life" Hryhoriy Mamka. The main mass of the case was falsified during 2014-2016. The investigation was led by the then Oleksandr Vakulenko, head of the SSU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his deputy Hryhoriy Mamka.

As Chornovol reported, there are documents in the case that Mamka gave instructions to the investigators to report to him every Friday on the results of the investigation. The investigation was conducted secretly, the case was for some reason hidden and kept not on Bogomoletsa Street in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but in the Pechersk District Police Department. In addition, main prosecution witness Vitaly Fedorovych Dzherzh, who testified that Chornovol allegedly called for people to be beaten during the storming of the office, now works as an assistant to People's Deputy Mamka.

On November 15, 2017, a pre-trial investigation was commissioned Department of Special Investigations of the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine. After that, the case was merged with the "Maidan case" No. 42013110000001029.

On November 19, 2019, a pre-trial investigation of the entire "Maidan case" was commissioned State Bureau of Investigation.

On March 25, 2020, the materials of the pre-trial investigation into the seizure of the office of the "Party of Regions" were once again separated into a separate proceeding and transferred to the Territorial Department of the DBR, located in Kyiv.

On April 10, 2020, Tetyana Mykolaivna Chornovol was notified of suspicion under clauses 5, 12 of part 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "Intentional murder by a previous group of persons in a manner dangerous to the lives of many persons".

Claiming the possible political motivation of the criminal prosecution of Chornovol, the defense side draws attention to 2 facts:

1) activation of the pre-trial investigation against T.M. Chornovol. and her notification of suspicion took place after the incident on January 28, 2020, during a briefing of the first deputy director of the DBR Babikov V.P., where employees of the special forces of the DBR applied Chornovol T.M. bodily harm. The criminal proceedings in this regard are being investigated by the Technical Department of the DBR, located in Kyiv.

2) after the transfer of the case to the authorities of the SBI and before the notification of suspicion Chornovol T.M. with the change of legal qualification from part 1 to part 2 (paragraphs 5, 12) of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, no significant investigative action was taken, no new evidence was received.

On December 15, 2020, the SBI finished providing access to the materials of the pre-trial investigation in accordance with Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and handed over the indictment to Tetyana Chornovol. The indictment was signed and drawn up by the senior group of prosecutors in this criminal proceeding the prosecutor of the second department of procedural management of the management of procedural management in criminal proceedings of investigators TU DBR of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office by Vladyslav Vasyliovych Volyan.

It is also clear from the indictment that Chornovol is also involved in the falsification of the proceedings against Chornovol Anatoliy Volodymyrovych Danylyuk, an investigator of the third department of the Technical Intelligence Service of the DBR located in Kyiv. 

After receiving the indictment, the court appoints a preparatory court session no later than 5 days. The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv will consider the case on its merits.