In Kyiv, the court acquitted the judge who sentenced the people of Maidan to the pre-trial detention center

The court passed an acquittal for the judge of the Dnipro District Court of Kyiv, Oleksandr Dzyuba, who, during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, sent two Maidan activists to a pre-trial detention center for allegedly participating in mass riots. This was reported by Watchers Media.

According to information, during the events on the Maidan in the winter of 2014, judge Dzyuba issued a decision to arrest two protesters who were beaten by the police and accused by law enforcement officers of rioting. It was the police who opened the case against them, trying to use a kind of “legalization” of violence against the protest participants, and judge Dzyuba is believed to have facilitated this by sending the activists to custody.

The prosecutor’s office filed charges against the judge under Article 371 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – “Knownly illegal detention, arrest, house arrest or detention”, which provides for responsibility for illegal actions of judicial authorities during the events of the Revolution of Dignity.

However, the judge of the Boryspil City and District Court, having reviewed the case, concluded that there was insufficient evidence of Dzyuba’s guilt, and issued an acquittal. Thus, as of September 2024, Dzyuba continues to work as a judge in the Dnipro District Court of Kyiv and administer justice, despite being accused of participating in repressive actions against activists during the Maidan.

We will remind that in 2014, the judicial authorities were often used to put pressure on activists, as well as to legitimize the actions of law enforcement officers against protesters. During the Revolution of Dignity, hundreds of criminal proceedings were opened against Maidan participants, and many of them were illegally arrested and detained.

In connection with the court’s acquittal, the Office of the Prosecutor General filed an appeal, demanding a review of the case and a just decision that would meet the requirements of law and justice. Prosecutors insist that Judge Dzyuba’s decisions during the Maidan events were part of a general repressive policy and should be reviewed in the context of human rights protection.