Court orders recalculation of dictator’s head
An independent assessment and architectural construction analysis are to be carried out in the case over the beheading of the highly controversial bust of Joseph Stalin on communist party territory on 28 December 2010.
9 members of the nationalist organization Tryzub have been charged with beheading the statue and were for a long time even held in SIZO [pre-trial detention centre]. Their cases are mentioned as examples of the repressive measures of the present regime causing grave concern in Ukraine and abroad (Appeal to the Leaders of Democratic Countries)
An application was lodged by the lawyer defending one of the Tryzub members. It was allowed by the Zhovtnevy District Court in Zaporizhya, Judge Viktor Tatarinov.
What is at issue is the cost of the damage with the amount presented by the communists in dispute. The Judge ordered that these figures be checked to see that they concur with the bookkeeping documents.
He also allowed the application to call as witnesses the Chief Accountant of the Communist Party, the Head of the Association for the Protection of Monuments in the Zaporizhya region, and others.
The nine young men are charged with causing damage to property on a particularly large scale. The Communist Party has estimated the damage at over 350 thousand UAH (11 UAH = 1 euro)..
The next hearing is scheduled for 11 July.