Kyiv court upholds night house arrest for veteran Lyubomyr Dmytryshyn

Appellate court upholds preventive measure

The Kyiv Court of Appeal ruled that activist and veteran Lyubomyr Dmytryshyn will remain under night house arrest. He was detained on suspicion of committing hooliganism during a protest action held in Teremky, Kyiv.

The outcome of the appeal hearing was announced by the Miller law firm, which is acting as the citizen's defence.

Court's position and defence arguments

According to the lawyers, the court justified the necessity of this preventive measure by the possibility of the suspect fleeing. However, the defence representatives emphasise the contradiction in this argument. They point out that after the action, Dmytryshyn lived at the same address for nine days, and the investigation was informed of its location. It was at this address that law enforcement officers detained him on 6 October.

The Miller firm claims that the court did not provide convincing grounds for assuming the activist might flee.

Failure to prove the necessity of arrest

Furthermore, the defenders note that the prosecution failed to prove the necessity of applying house arrest specifically. The lawyers add that the court acknowledged this in its decision, yet despite this, it left the existing preventive measure unchanged.