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Defendants found not guilty in Odessa riots case charged with separatism

The charge has been brought against Sergei Dolzhenkov and Evgeny Mefedov

Odessa, 2014 Alexandr Gagarin/TASS

Odessa, 2014

© Alexandr Gagarin/TASS

KIEV, September 18. /TASS/. Members of the Anti-Maidan movement, who were found not guilty in the case of the May 2014 mass riots in Odessa, have been charged with separatism, a Ukrainian news outlet, Timer, reported.

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Defendants in case of May 2014 unrest in Odessa found not guilty — media

"The members of the Kulikovo Pole movement, who were found not guilty in the May 2 case, have been charged with separatism in accordance with Article 110 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. The charge has been brought against Sergei Dolzhenkov and Evgeny Mefedov," the report reads. "The same charge is likely to be brought against other three members of their group, kept in the pre-trial detention center," the news outlet added.

According to the Odessa-based Dumskaya newspaper, only Dolzhenkov and Mefedov will be taken into custody.

The mass riots case involves 19 activists of the Kulikovo Pole movement, accused of organizing riots which led to fatalities. Five of the defendants (Maksim Sakautov, Yevgeny Mefedov, Sergei Dolzhenov, Vladislav Romanyuk and Sergei Korchinsky) have spent nearly three and a half years in the Odessa pre-trial detention center.

The court earlier found the five members of the Anti-Maidan movement not guilty and ruled to release them in the courtroom. "The court has rejected the evidence provided by the prosecutor, and rules to release all defendants in the courtroom," the judge said.

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