Donetsk, Feb 8 – DAN. First in 2017, court hearing on Odessa Anti-Maidan activists case is set for February 10, defense lawyer of federalization activists Kirill Shevchuk told DAN.
"The first hearing in 2017 is scheduled for February 10."
Shevchuk noted that the hearing might be adjourned as one of the defendants Sergey Dolzhenkov waived counsel, as another accused – Evgeniy Mefedov - did earlier, both citing disagreements with their lawyers.
Another reason for the probable adjournment is a possible illness of one of the key judges and his deputy.
"As soon as all perturbations are over, the hearing process should get underway," the defense lawyer said.
The litigation over tragic events that took place in Odessa has been ongoing since January 2015, with about seven hearings in a month. Twenty people are being accused including Russian Federation citizens.
On May 2, 2014 activists of the Pravyi Sector (Right Sector, a far-right Ukrainian nationalist political and paramilitary group of neofascist ideology) and the so-called Maidan Self-Defense burnt down camp of Anti-Maidan demonstrators outside the Trade Unions House, an Odessa landmark located on Kulikovo Field in the city center, where Odessa residents were collecting signatures for a referendum on Ukraine federalization.
As the skirmishes broke out Anti-Maidan supporters took shelter in the Trade Unions House, which radicals surrounded and set on fire.
According to various sources, from 40 to 200 people died in the massacre, some from carbon monoxide poisoning, and others after leaping from windows to escape the flames, over 200 people were injured.
The perpetrators were never punished, while those affected found themselves on the wrong side of the bar.*ot