Former Kyiv police chief and ex-Minister of Interior Affairs to be tried for Maidan cases

An indictment has been filed against the head of the Interior Ministry during Yanukovych's time and the acting head of the capital's police. They are accused of organizing the kidnapping of protest participants in Kyiv, their illegal imprisonment, torture, as well as attempted murder and premeditated murder of 2 people.

It was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office.

"The investigation established that the defendants developed a criminal plan in January-February 2014, in order to hinder and stop the protest actions, and to implement it they involved civilians - "titushki". They committed a number of illegal actions against protest participants and journalists, which were accompanied by causing bodily harm to the victims, and in some cases, their kidnapping, torture and murder," the report says.

These are Vitalii Zakharchenko and Valerii Mazan.

The accused are charged with Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 340; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 146; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 2 of Art. 127; Part 3 of Art. 27, Subparagraphs 3, 12 of Part 2 of Art. 115; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 2 of Art. 146; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 2 of Art. 127; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 2 of Art. 15, Subparagraphs 1, 5, 12, 13 of Part 2 of Art. 115; Part 3 of Art. 27, Part 2 of Art. 15, Subparagraphs 1, 7, 12, 13 of Part 2 of Art. 115; Part 3 of Art. 27, Subparagraphs 7, 12, 13 of Part 2 of Art. 115; Part 2 of Art. 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

They have been hiding from law enforcement agencies in the territory of the russian federation for a long time and have received russian citizenship. Court permits have been obtained for them and a special pre-trial investigation in absentia has been conducted.