Odesa Court Detains Lawyer Olha Panchenko for Paramilitary Group Ties

The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa has explained why it chose custody as a measure of restraint for lawyer Olha Panchenko, who is suspected of participating in the activities of an illegal armed group organized by a group of people, and not something else.

As the court' s press service emphasized, the prosecutor proved the validity of the suspicion that Olga Panchenko took an active part in the creation of a paramilitary group, whose leader is considered to be her client Oleg Maltsev.

The judges also decided that the prosecutor was able to prove the existence of risks provided for in Article 177 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, i.e., according to prosecutors, the lawyer may

• hide from the pre-trial investigation or court;
• destroy, hide or distort any of the things or documents that are essential for establishing the circumstances of a criminal offense
• unlawfully influence a victim, witness, other suspect, accused, expert, or specialist in the same criminal proceedings;
• otherwise obstruct criminal proceedings;
• commit another criminal offense or continue the criminal offense of which he or she is suspected or accused.

Therefore, the court concluded that the only possible measure of restraint is detention. At the same time, the court emphasized that it was not about her advocacy, but about her possible participation in the formation of Oleg Maltsev.

"It is clear from the investigated materials that Olga Panchenko was not notified of suspicion in connection with her professional activities, but on the basis of the availability of relevant evidence linking her to the incriminated crime," the court said.

The lawyer was detained on April 17 during a search of her apartment, and a 7.62×39 rifled carbine "FORT 205" assembled on the basis of an AKM assault rifle and four magazines for it were seized. Some of the other members of the group are already cooperating with the investigation and have given incriminating evidence against the suspect.

Earlier, Odesa media workers called on the head of the Odesa branch of the National Union of Journalists , Yuriy Rabotin, to resign and accused him of passing their personal data to Oleg Maltsev, who is accused of creating a combat group to overthrow the government. They reported that they were "concerned about the information about the conflict situation" and condemned the "dissemination of personal data".

Subsequently, Yuriy Rabotin issued a public statement in response to the journalists' accusations, and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine suspended the issuance of journalists' certificates through its Odesa regional organization.

Кирило Бойко