Two "Batman" militants will stand trial in Luhansk for torturing civilians
Two members of the illegal armed group “GSHR ‘Batman’” will stand trial for torturing two civilians in the temporarily occupied city of Luhansk. According to the investigation, the militants also forced one of the victims, at gunpoint, to perform hard labor without pay.
According to the investigation, the crimes were committed in 2014. Law enforcement officials established that the two Luhansk residents were illegally held in the basement of an educational institution for several months.
Police determined that the victims were beaten and threatened with death. The men were also taken away for so-called “interrogations,” during which, according to the investigation, the torture continued.
In addition to unlawful detention and torture, one of the civilians was forced to perform hard labor without pay under threat of a weapon.
Law enforcement officials believe that these actions were part of crimes committed by members of an illegal armed group against the civilian population.
The actions of two members of the illegal group were classified under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—violation of the laws and customs of war.
Under the procedural guidance of the Luhansk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the indictment against the defendants has already been submitted to the court.
The court will provide a further legal assessment of the defendants’ actions. Until the verdict becomes final, they are presumed innocent in accordance with the presumption of innocence.
This was reported by the Luhansk Regional Police.
Earlier, a resident of the Melitopol District was notified that he was suspected of a war crime involving the torture of a civilian man. According to law enforcement officials, the suspect voluntarily joined the occupying security forces, beat the victim, threatened him with violence, and unlawfully detained him.
The Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeals denied the prosecutor’s appeal regarding pretrial measures against Anatoliy Chornei, the former deputy head of the Verkhovyna District Territorial Military Commissariat and Special Operations Unit, and three of his subordinates. They are accused of torturing conscripts.
