Oleksandr Zarutsky, lawyer representing the parents of Ihor Indylo, the student who died on the eve of his twentieth birthday in police custody has lodged three appeals. The first is against the amnesty passed on Serhiy Kovalenko, the police officer on duty the night that Ihor Indylo was brought in..

The second is against the sentence passed on Serhiy Prykhodko, the officer who detained Ihor.

The third – over the concealment by the court of information about the examination of Ihor by the doctor.

He says that he is not complaining about the type of punishment for the police officers.

Oleksandr Zarutsky explains: “The charge was laid incorrectly. For example, Kovalenko’s actions should have been viewed as professional negligence leading to grave consequences. He did not call an ambulance. In Prykhodko’s case (who received a 5 year conditional sentence) we asked for the case to be sent for a new examination. We don’t know what really happening, how Ihor fell”.

 Prykhodko’s lawyer also disputes the ruling, saying that his client bears no blame over Ihor’s death. 

http://www.segodnya.ua/news/14328068.html

There have been protests over the ruling, and the Human Rights Ombudsperson Nina Kapachova has criticized it. Amnesty International has called for a new and thorough investigation.

Ihor Indylo died in police custody on the night from 17 to 18 May 2010. He had committed no offence, went voluntarily to the police station, apparently after an altercation with a police officer living in the same student hostel. He died from head injuries and haemorrhaging. After a report on the TV 1 + 1 Channel, the story became high-profile, and the police assertion Ihor fell in a state of inebriation was insultingly unconvincing.

A criminal investigation was initiated and in November the Kyiv Prosecutor’s Office announced that it was handing the case to the court.
In spring of 2011 Judge Margarita Vasylyeva ruled that the Prosecutor had not established the cause of Ihor’s death and sent the case for further examination. The Prosecutor, however, succeeded in getting that ruling revoked.