The court ruled in the case of the attack on journalists at UkrEximBank: Metsher was fined 3400 UAH

The court ruled in the case of the attack on journalists at UkrEximBank: Metsher was fined 3400 UAH

Yevhen Metsger, the former chairman of the state-owned UkrEximBank, was found guilty in the case of the attack on Schemes journalists. He was sentenced to a fine of 3400 UAH.

Along with Metsger, former director of the bank’s Banking Security Department Ihor Telbizov and former head of the bank’s Internal Security Department Oleh Osypov were found guilty — they were each fined 1700 UAH. The Holosiivskyi District Court of Kyiv made the decision on 14 September, Radio Svoboda reports from the courtroom.

Metsger was found guilty under part 1 and part 3 of article 171 of the Criminal Code ("Unlawful seizure of materials and technical devices collected by a journalist, obstruction of a journalist’s work, committed by an official using his official position").

Telbizov and Osypov — under part 1 and part 2 of article 171 and part 1 of article 126 ("Beatings and torture").

"A decision is a decision, the court is the court. We accept it as it is. I can agree, I can disagree. I will talk with my lawyers, we will read the decision, read all the arguments and we will decide — whether to file (an appeal. – Ed.) or not," Metsger told reporters.

He also said he intends to hold public office in the future if he is "needed by the state."

Telbizov commented to reporters on the sentence: "There is a court, there is a decision. This is not a club for entertainment where someone is satisfied or not. I do not discuss the court’s decision, I am a citizen of this country. And today there are much more important matters than discussing who is satisfied with what here. Since we left the system, we have been working, serving, continuing. So these are life’s little things that happened here today."

Journalists’ lawyer Anatoliy Popov said the court "essentially delivered the verdict within the scope the prosecution requested":

"We asked why the prosecution did not request a punishment in the form of disqualification from holding certain positions. We were told that this was agreed with the prosecution leadership. I want to note that we are not very satisfied with the actions of the prosecution in this criminal case."

According to Popov, it is obvious that the prosecution "is not interested in a proper investigation."

"We learned that article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was closed — this is unlawful deprivation of liberty of persons. We had to restore it through the court," the lawyer said.

Prosecutor of the Holosiivskyi District Prosecutor’s Office Yevheniia Lytvynchuk refused to comment to the media in the courtroom.