Court sentences Sternenko to 7 years in prison for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a district council deputy

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A court in Odesa sentenced Serhii Sternenko, a former leader of the local "Pravyi Sektor" party, to seven years in prison for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a man, and ordered the confiscation of half of his property.

It became known at the hearing of the Prymorskyi regional court of Odesa, "UP" reports.

The prosecutor's office claimed that the guilt of the accused, Sternenko and his colleague Ruslan Demchuk, was confirmed by the testimony of the victim Serhii Shcherbych, telephone billing, and witness statements. The latter said that she saw Shcherbych being dragged into a car and taken away in an unknown direction.

The purpose of the attack, according to the prosecution, was to seize Shcherbych's property: his bank card and telephone. The court found it an aggravating circumstance that the crime had been allegedly committed "in connection with the victim's performance of official duties"; Shcherbych was a deputy of the district council.

Both defendants completely denied their involvement in Shcherbych's abduction.

Sternenko, besides the attack, was found guilty of illegal possession of a weapon: a traumatic pistol. He was acquitted under this article because the statute of limitations had expired.

Ruslan Demchuk, an ex-leader of the "Pravyi Sektor" of the Lymanskyi district, was also sentenced to the same term.

The courtroom greeted the verdict with shouts of "Shame!"

It should be noted that the prosecutor's office asked the court to sentence Sternenko to 8 years in prison with confiscation of property, accusing the defendant of kidnapping a resident of the Lymanskyi district Serhii Shcherbych, robbery, and illegal possession of firearms (Articles 246, 187 and 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

In turn, Sternenko denies involvement in the incriminated crimes, noting in court that the reason for opening several criminal cases was an unsubstantiated statement of the district council deputy from the "Trust in Deeds" party, Serhii Shcherbych about his attack and abduction "for 300 hryvnias" and a weapon found in the defendant's apartment by investigators.

According to the defendant, the prosecutor's office didn't provide evidence to the court: "There are no witnesses, no photos or audio; it is unknown whether anyone ever attacked Shcherbych. There are only his words, and based on these words, I was accused of kidnapping and robbery."

The ex-leader of the Odesa "Pravyi Sektor" believes that the case against him is "the beginning of politically motivated massacres by Trukhanov (Hennadiy Trukhanov, Odesa mayor – ed.) …" recalling that in 2015, an investigator came to his house with a search, during which he voluntarily gave the police a pneumatic gun, a collector's knife, and a starting (noise) pistol.

As Sternenko clarified, the pistol's examination (which is freely sold and doesn't require a permit) directly stated that the pistol was a starting pistol. It is further written that "the expert of the Ministry of Internal Affairs unscrewed the sleeve from the barrel and then was able to shoot rubber bullets from it. That is, the expert himself made the starting pistol traumatic. And he pointed out that the weapon became a firearm."

In the last days of February, the defendant noted, the trial was greatly accelerated: "Previously, hearings were held once a month. And then they began to take place every week. And in the last 7 days, there were as many as 3 hearings.

Sternenko's lawyer Vitalii Kolomiets also reported on Facebook that the activist's defense planned to appeal the verdict of the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa as soon as possible.

"7 years. Confiscation. Jail. The appeal will be filed as soon as possible," the lawyer said.

Several hundred people came from different cities of Ukraine to support Sternenko, including former Ministry of Health Uliana Suprun and non-partisan People's Deputy Heo Leros.

After the verdict was announced, Sternenko's telegram channel published the time and list of Ukrainian cities where demonstrations to support him would be held today. For example, today at 20:00, activists are going to go to the Office of the President.

As reported, in the spring of 2015, Shcherbych, a newly-elected deputy of the Kominternivska district council, was abducted and tortured in the Odesa region. According to the victim, Sternenko called him and offered to meet to discuss his work. Arriving at the place, the deputy saw several cars and people, two of whom, Sternenko and Demchuk, he knew personally. The deputy got into one of the cars, then tried to escape, but was forcibly taken to the basement where he was tortured. The man, in particular, was demanded to resign. Shcherbych was also threatened with physical violence.

When the victim was released, he turned to law enforcement. According to the prosecution, Shcherbych himself pointed to his abductors, Sternenko and Demchuk. However, at first, law enforcement officers didn't publicly report either the specific individuals involved in the crime or their notable features. In just five months, Sternenko and Demchuk were handed over the notices of suspicion.

They were detained and arrested but later released from custody. The case was sent to court for consideration on the merits in 2016. The victim mostly didn't appear in court.