Prosecutor General: open trial of 2014 Maidan shootings is important

KYIV. Nov 17 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The extradition of former President Viktor Yanukovych and the other nine suspects in the executions on the Maidan in 2014 to Russia is virtually impossible, but an open public trial is important for the further execution of the court’s verdict, regardless of where the defendants are, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova has said.

"Where are all these people now? They are all on the run, most of them visiting our northern neighbor. There they are not at all accidental, and it is not at all by chance that Russia protects them," Venediktova said at briefing in Kyiv, speaking about the completion of the pretrial investigation against former President Viktor Yanukovych and nine former high-ranking officials who organized forceful opposition to protesters in the center of the capital on February 18-20, 2014.

The prosecutor general said: "Why are the trials against them important – open, transparent, public? So that we can all together see how the truth is being established."

According to Venediktova, despite the fact that Russia is unlikely to extradite suspects for prosecution in Ukraine, an open trial with a verdict is extremely important.

"We are all not naive people and we understand that under the current state of affairs, neither today, nor, unfortunately, tomorrow, no one will give them to us. But the court verdict must be executed. On the territory of which state – we will see," she said.

She also said: "We will work tirelessly to ensure that these people answer to the fullest extent of the law."