In Kyiv, the court today handed down a verdict in the case of the murder of Kherson activist Kateryna Handzyuk. The suspects received 10 years of imprisonment each.
This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the broadcast of the court session and the Prosecutor General's Office.
The Dnipro District Court of Kyiv found Vladyslav Manger guilty of ordering the attack, and Oleksiy Levin of organizing it. They were sentenced to 10 years in prison, taking into account the previous imprisonment.
They must also pay the family of Kateryna Handziuk compensation for moral damage in the amount of 15 million hryvnias.
The Prosecutor General's Office also reported on the court's sentencing
According to reports, the prosecutors asked for the maximum possible punishment for both - 10 years of imprisonment.
The court agreed with the arguments and position of the prosecutors and sentenced them to 10 years in prison. And also collect UAH 5 million in moral damages for the benefit of the victims.
Prosecutors proved in court that at the beginning of July 2018, the then head of the Kherson Regional Council, Vladyslav Manger, based on personal enmity, decided to organize an attack on public activist Kateryna Handzyuk. He involved the assistant of the deputy of the Kherson Regional Council, Oleksiy Levin, in the direct organization of the crime.
He, in turn, met with the future coordinator of the attack Serhii Torbin and offered to attract the perpetrators and accomplices of the crime for a monetary reward.
What is known about the attack on Handziuk
On July 31, 2018, at around 8:45 a.m., the performer doused Kateryna Handziuk with sulfuric acid near the entrance of her house.
At the beginning of August 2018, an assistant to a deputy of the Kherson Regional Council, acting with the knowledge and on the authority of the head of the Regional Council, during a personal meeting, paid Torbin the $4,500 promised for co-conspirators, and another $500 was given earlier as a "deposit".
Kateryna died on November 4, 2018. 40 percent of her body was affected by chemical burns.
As you know, five suspects in the organization and execution of the attack have already been convicted in the case - Viktor Gorbunov, Vyacheslav Vyshnevskyi, Volodymyr Vasyanovych, Mykyta Grabchuk - executors and Serhii Torbin - the organizer. All of them admitted their guilt, entered into a deal with the investigation and received from 3 to 6.5 years of imprisonment.
Vasyanovych and Vishnevsky observed the victim, Gorbunov bought acid, Grabchuk poured it on Kateryna Handzyuk.
In October 2020, the court also sentenced Ihor Pavlovskyi, who was accused of concealing a crime against a public activist that was not promised in advance, sentencing him to 2 years of imprisonment with a probationary period of 1 year. He provided transport to the perpetrators of the attack and hid information about the crime from law enforcement agencies.
At the same time, Levin, accused of organizing the attack, was hiding from the investigation abroad, however, he was detained in Bulgaria in 2020. Munger, who is suspected of ordering the attack, was also taken into custody in June 2020.
The SSU conducted the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings.
