What are Sentsov and Kolchenko accused of?

According to the prosecution, Sentsov supported the idea of changing the authorities in Ukraine in 2014 and went to Kyiv as a member of “Automaidan” to take part in the protests together with the “Right Sector”. There he accepted the ideology of the “Right Sector”.

Two fires occurred in Simferopol in April of 2014. On April 14 the office of party “Russian Unity” was burned. The office of the “Russian Community of Crimea” was located at the same address (Karl Liebknecht Street, 11/2). On the video from surveillance cameras, which were later demonstrated in court, two men in hoods are seen approaching the building at about 4 a.m. One poured something on the door, the other threw a cigarette butt. Both ran away, but the flame didn’t start. In a few seconds one of them came back, lit the door with the lighter, and disappeared back into the darkness. The door caught fire instantly. In a few minutes the fire was extinguished by guards. The door was the only thing that suffered. The total amount of damage totaled 30,000 RUR (about 8,500 UAH). The investigation will qualify this arson as a “terrorist attack.”

A makeshift “headquarters” of Crimean “self-defense” was located in the office of “Russian Unity” in the midst of the annexation of Crimea. Those who opposed the actions of Russia or wore Ukrainian symbols were brought here for “precognition”. On March 11, 2014 Ukrainian activist Mykhailo Vdovchenko was taken here to be beaten and interrogated, because he was caught in the center of Simferopol with the Ukrainian flag.

“I was returning from the protest with the Ukrainian flag. I don’t know, I felt calmer with it. In one of the streets I saw about 30 young men in leather jackets — they were walking two by two and two with the leader in front. He looked like a military man. He saw me from a distance and shouted ‘Step aside!’ and I did so. He shouted, ‘No, run away from here! Or else you’ll be killed!’ The guys took out batons from the leather jackets. I was scared and ran away. But they caught me and asked me to throw away the flag. Then they began to beat me. Thank god I was wearing my hat that day.” “Then someone said, ‘Take him to our place’. I was taken to the office of “Russian Unity”. On the way there, they were telling me that they would pull out all my nails and teeth, would torture me. ‘Sing the anthem of Ukraine!’ They brought me to the black gate of the office and I realized that this was the last opportunity to escape. I struggled and broke free. They chased and beat me down and I shouted to 2 policemen passing by. Actually there were a lot of people, but only one woman came to me. ‘Why are you beating him?’ At this moment a woman named Alina, a curator in Crimea, went out of the gate. She said to the woman that I was provocateur, was tearing up passports. There was a rumor about provocateurs visiting people’s apartments and asking to see passports, only to then tear them up and run away, in such a manner taking away the right of people to vote in the referendum. And in Crimea people believed this. “ “I was brought to the yard where they started interrogating me again. They tried to find out if I knew someone from the “Right Sector”, who pays their activists money, and so on. But I could not tell them anything on it. Alina took picture of me and then she received a message that said ‘he tells a lie’. She went away. Later the doctor visited me and gave me some water. There were a lot of people with and without weapons, some in uniform, but all of them were unmarked. They wondered who I was. Then I was taken to one of the military commissariats and was tortured there 9 days. “ said Mykhailo Vdovchenko.

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The office of the “Party of Regions” at 7 Aksakov Street was burnt during the night of April 18, 2014. Oleksandr Bochkarev, a former commander of the so-called Crimean militia, represented the party “United Russia” and had already managed to move into the office by that time. In court he was presented as a victim of the incident.

According to the documents, the office still belonged to “Party of Regions”. However, Bochkarev insisted that “regionals” had joined the party “United Russia” providing them with their property and office. So having already torched the office of “Party of Regions”, the attackers intended to cause damage to “United Russia”. The court asked Bochkarev if he had seen representatives of the “Right Sector” in Crimea. ‘ I’ve caught them several times. They came from Transcarpathia. Who else could it be?’ he answered.

The kitchen in the office suffered the most damage from the fire. The damages amounted to 200,000 RUR (about 57,000 UAH). The arson will be qualified by investigators as a “terrorist attack”. The investigation established that Chyrnii and Afanasiev took part in arsons, as well as Zuikov and Borkin, whom they failed to arrest. Three of them confessed to involvement in arson. Afanasiev and Chyrnii, having made a deal with the investigation, would say that Sentsov was the brains behind the plan for the arson. Kolchenko will say that he wanted to make harm to the party, “which allowed Putin’s Army to enter Ukraine”. In the final speech the prosecutor will emphasize that “In the names of both offices were the words “Russia” or “Russian”.”

The only thing that confirms Sentsov’s relation to the arson of the offices is the testimony given by Afanasiev and Chyrnii, under their agreements with the investigation. Later, Afanasiev would refute his words. And Kolchenko continues to repeat that he has never received any such orders from Sentsov.

The defendants are accused not of arson, but of participation in the terrorist group led by Sentsov. According to the indictment, Sentsov is guilty of “Supporting the idea of changing the authorities in Ukraine in 2014 whereby as a member of “Automaidan” he traveled to Kyiv to take part in the protests together with the “Right Sector”. There he accepted the ideology of the “Right Sector”, established contacts with its leaders, and later received a proposal to form a unit of “Right Sector” in Crimea in order to destabilize the situation there”.

Was Oleh truly related to the “Right Sector”? “First, ‘Automaidan’ was not connected with the “Right Sector”, commented Automaidan activist Oleksii Gritsenko. “When we were in captivity in Crimea, we were also asked about the “Right Sector”. And even in that awful situation when they said that “Automaidan” was a radical wing of the “Right Sector”, I couldn’t stop laughing. Well, it turns out that Sentsov accepted their ideology? Did they even have an ideology? “

Later the defense lawyers will insist on attaching a certificate from the “Right Sector” signed by Dmytro Yarosh to the case file. It says that neither Sentsov nor Kolchenko are the members of the organization “Right Sector”. In Russia “Right Sector” is recognized as a terrorist organization. The judge will note that any document signed by Dmytro Yarosh is a manifestation of contempt of court.

Two official statements from ‘The Right Sector’ clarifying that Sentsov was never a part of the organization

All the defendants in the case at the moment of arrest are citizens of Ukraine. Both Sentsov and Kolchenko insisted that did not receive Russian citizenship and demanded a meeting with the consul. The judge has decided that it will only be possible after the verdict. Both Afanasiev and Chyrnii have Russian passports, but neither of them said whether it was a part of the deal with the investigation or not. Only Afanasiev said in court that the decision to take Russian citizenship had been his own decision.