Ex-Commander Of Police Special Company Of Donetsk Region Holuban Detained On Suspicion Of Organizing Mass Riots

The former commander of the special police company of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Donetsk region, Yurii Holuban, is one of two detained by the National Police on suspicion of organizing mass riots.

Minister of Internal Affairs Denys Monastyrskyi announced this on the air of the Freedom of Speech program on the ICTV channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Regarding the person whose name has already been mentioned today, yes, indeed, this person of the name of Holuban, who was a law enforcement officer who has a very incomprehensible history in 2014, and I also, as a citizen, have a question: why was this case not brought to an end then? Obviously, now the law enforcement agencies, including the Security Service, must return to those facts, raise them within the framework of this or a new criminal proceeding, since it is clear that during this time a person comes to the attention of law enforcement agencies precisely as organizer of mass riots, which should cause harm to law enforcement officers and other citizens," Monastyrskyi said.

He said that two people were detained on suspicion of organizing mass riots.

"The National Police collected all the data about these people, they were not found much, there were more than two of them, but now we can talk about the detention of two people," he said.

They were detained on January 30, they were charged with suspicion, and on February 1 the court will choose a preventive measure for them.

Monastyrskyi noted that the investigation and the prosecutor's office have yet to establish the motive for the actions of the organizers and the customer.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 31, Monastyrskyi announced that the police had detained a group of people who were planning mass riots in Kyiv using fake blood and recording the planned "bloodshed" on camera.

In 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine launched an investigation against Holuban on suspicion of high treason.

Prior to this, the National Police asked the SSU to verify information about Holuban's service in the Skhid militant battalion of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

In March 2017, then President Petro Poroshenko awarded Police Colonel Holuban with the Order of Merit of the III degree.