Rocket attack on barracks: court in Odesa decides fate of traitor prosecutor

The former head of Mykolaiv District Prosecutor's Office, Hennadiy Herman, will spend the rest of his life behind bars as his sentence was upheld by the appellate court without changes.

According to the Suspilne media outlet, the Odesa Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of Hennadiy Herman, who was found guilty of high treason. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with confiscation of property for cooperation with Russian special services.

Herman passed on information to Russia about prisoners of war, dead Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, and provided the enemy with data on the activities of the State Emergency Service and ways to bypass checkpoints. Among the information transmitted were photographs of the consequences of Russian attacks on Mykolaiv, including the destroyed Marine barracks on March 18, 2022.

The Security Service of Ukraine detained Hennadiy Herman on April 5, 2022. Despite the overwhelming evidence, the former prosecutor does not admit his guilt and does not express regret for his actions.

The relatives of the deceased soldiers are convinced that Herman contributed to the attacks on the barracks and demanded a review of the sentence, offering to exchange him for Ukrainian marines held in Russian captivity. However, the court rejected these proposals.

According to Oksana Rutska, the mother of the deceased defense lawyer, after the verdict of the court of appeal enters into force, the exchange of traitors for prisoners of war is quite possible.

On July 15, the court completed its consideration of the case file on the appeal of former Mykolaiv prosecutor Gennadiy German against the verdict of the Primorskyi Court, which sentenced him to life for high treason.

As a reminder, in February 2023, eight relatives of the Ukrainian military killed during the shelling of a barracks in Mykolaiv filed a second petition to be recognized as victims, but the court denied them. According to the defense, no individuals were recognized as victims in this case during the pre-trial investigation.

On January 16, the Primorskyi Court of Odesa also rejected a motion filed by the mothers of the marines who died in Mykolaiv as a result of a missile attack in March 2022, asking to be included as victims in the case.

The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa began considering the case of the former head of the Mykolaiv District Prosecutor's Office, Hennadii Herman, on December 23, 2022.

Initially, the trial was planned to be closed. However, after the court chairman Serhiy Kichmarenko met with the relatives of the dead marines, the judges granted the request to allow them to attend the hearings.

Ірина Глухова