Vradiyska Peaceful Protest Coordinator’s jail sentence “revoked”

Vasyl Lyubarets, the initiator of the Vradiyvska protests against police violence and lawlessness has informed Radio Svoboda that the Kyiv Court of Appeal has revoked the sentence weeks after he served a 10 day period of administrative arrest.  The Court found that Lyubarets had not committed any offence and cancelled the ruling of the Shevchenkivsk District Court.   He is supposed to have infringed the rules for holding peaceful gatherings.

As reported, the police drew up two protocols against Lyubarets on the same count of infringing the rules on peaceful assembly. Another Shevchenkivsk Court judge found that there had been no infringement in Lyubaret’s behaviour.  The other - Judge Andzor Saadulaev – jailed him for 10 days.

The Court of Appeal gave as its reasons both infringements with the protocols, and the Constitution which does not envisage such restrictions on the right of freedom of assembly.

Lyubarets is not planning to lodge a suit against those responsible for his administrative arrest.

The Vradiyvska procession protests began on 7 July following the brutal rape and possible attempted murder of 29-year-old Iryna Krashkova from Vradiyivka.  A huge crowd of her fellow residents stormed the police station after what they saw as attempts by the police to shield one of the two police officers named as her assailants by the victim.