Kherson Regional Council Ex-head Manher sentenced to 10 years in prison for organizing attack on activist Handziuk

The court sentenced the former chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, Vladyslav Manher, to 10 years in prison for organizing an attack on anti-corruption activist Kateryna Handziuk.

This was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO), Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Manher and an assistant to the member of the Kherson Regional Council were found guilty of ordering and organizing the commission of intentional grievous bodily harm by a group of persons in a manner that had the character of special torture and caused the death of the victim Kateryna Handziuk (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 121 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Prosecutors asked for the maximum possible punishment for both - 10 years in prison.

The court agreed with the arguments and position of the prosecutors and sentenced them to 10 years in prison.

The court also levied moral damages of UAH 5 million on behalf of the victims.

Prosecutors proved in court that at the beginning of July 2018, the then chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, based on personal enmity, decided to organize an attack on public activist Kateryna Handziuk.

In the direct organization of the crime, he involved an assistant of a member of the Kherson Regional Council.

He, in turn, met with the future coordinator of the attack Serhii Torbin and offered to attract the perpetrators and accomplices of the crime for a monetary reward.

On July 31, 2018, around 8:45 a.m., the performer poured sulfuric acid on Handziuk near the entrance of her house.

In early August 2018, an assistant to the member of the Kherson Regional Council, acting with the knowledge and on the authority of the head of the Regional Council, during a personal meeting paid Torbin the promised USD 4,500 for co-conspirators, and another USD 500 was previously provided as a deposit.

On November 4, 2018, Handziuk died, 40% of her body was affected by chemical burns.

In June 2019, the court found guilty and sentenced the members of the group of attackers: Torbin - 6.5 years, Hrabchuk - 6 years, Vasianovych and Vyshnevskyi - 4 years each, and Horbunov - 3 years of imprisonment.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in 2020, the Prosecutor General's Office completed the investigation into the criminal case of the attack on the acting manager of the Kherson City Hall, anti-corruption activist Kateryna Handziuk, the head of the Kherson Regional Council, Vladyslav Manher, is accused of ordering and financing the crime.

The Pokrovskyi District Court of the Dnipropetrovsk Region convicted 5 former participants of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) for the murder of Handziuk.