January 29, 2019 (The Guardian ) A Ukrainian court has found the former president Viktor Yanukovych guilty of
treason for his efforts to crush the 2014 pro-western demonstrations that
eventually toppled his government. Yanukovych was also charged with asking Vladimir
Putin to send Russian troops to invade Ukraine after he had fled the country.
The verdict came almost five years after Yanukovych was overthrown, and could
serve as an important symbolic conclusion to the events of 2014. More than 100
people were killed, many by sniper fire, on Kiev’s Maidan Square in clashes
between protesters and police.
The charges will
have little real effect on Yanukovych, 68, who has lived in exile in the
Russian city of Rostov since fleeing Ukraine under armed guard nearly five
years ago. A panel of three judges in Kiev’s Obolon district court on Thursday
sentenced Yanukovych to 13 years in prison. He was found guilty of “a crime
against the foundation of Ukraine’s national security”, according to RFE/RL. He
was also found guilty of committing “a crime against peace, namely aiding in
the conduct of an aggressive war”, the judge, Vladyslav Devyatko, said.
Yanukovych’s prison term would begin “the moment he is detained”, Devyatko
added.
The events of
2014 presaged some of the most troubling years for Ukraine since the fall of
the Soviet Union. Russia annexed Crimea months after Yanukovych fled, and
Moscow has backed separatists fighting in the country’s south-east. Their main
city, Donetsk, is a traditional Yanukovych stronghold. Yanukovych was invited
to testify by video link in November but failed to appear. His lawyers said he
had injured his spine and his knee during a tennis match. Although Yanukovych
officially lives in Rostov, he is said to spend time at a luxury residence outside
Moscow.
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