By Valery KOSTIUKEVYCH, The Day
On Tuesday in the Zhytomyr regional court arguments began in the case of
Anatoly Onopriyenko, accused of 52 murders, and his alleged accomplice
in some of the acts, Serhiy Rohozin. The prosecutor Yuri Ihnatenko's opening
statement lasted almost three hours including recesses. The main content
of the opening remarks dealt with the results of the preliminary investigation
conclusions: the main defendant is charged with 52 counts of premeditated
murder, including murder with extreme brutality, also robbery, organizing
gangs and banditry, along with a string other felonies; Serhiy Rohozin
charged as an accessory in the first three episodes of serial murder qualified
by the prosecution as organized gang actions, and, correspondingly, banditry
and failing to reporting the crimes. Pointing out extreme danger of actions
to society Mr. Ihnatenko demanded the death sentence for Anatoly Onopriyenko,
and 15 years of prison for Serhiy Rohozin.
When asked by The Day's reporter whether the death penalty can
be applied to Anatoly Onopriyenko in view of Ukraine's membership in the
Council of Europe, Mr. Ihnatenko answered that he was acting in accordance
with the Criminal Code of Ukraine, but in the course of time the death
penalty should be abolished in Ukraine. The prosecutor also expressed his
displeasure with the police work in detecting some episodes of crimes in
which Onopriyenko and Rohozin are implicated. In reply Onopriyenko's defense
counsel Ruslan Moshkovsky asked the court to reduce the sentence without
directly calling for a sentence other than death. Rohozin's attorney Yuri
Turkinov argued that the evidence collected by the prosecution is enough
only to accuse his client of not reporting Onopriyenko's crimes and concealing
them. In his final statement to the court that evening Rohozin pleaded
guilty only to these crimes and asked the court for mercy. Anatoly Onopriyenko
twice refused to make a statement in court. The court retired to chambers.
The verdict is scheduled to be announced approximately March 31.






