The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic press service reported earlier about the judicial trial against V.V. Karas' which received widespread media coverage in the Ukrainian media.
Let us recall that on December 1, 2016, the Budennovsky inter-district court of Donetsk of the Donetsk People's Republic by its verdict found Karas' V.V. guilty and convicted him on several grave articles according to the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Among them, such as intentional infliction of bodily harm of medium gravity (Article 122) and torture (Article 127). The criminal was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment in a correctional colony of the general regime.
After the delivery of the sentence the convicted Karas' V.V., and his defenders: Bogomol S.V. and Blokhin V.V. filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of the DPR.
Having considered the case under cassational procedure, on October 23, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic partially satisfied the appeal of the convicted Karas' V.V. and his defenders, as a result of which the verdict of the Budyonnovsky inter-district court of Donetsk of the Donetsk People's Republic dated December 1, 2016, was quashed.
The court ruled to recognize Karas' V.V. as sentenced under part 2 of Article 28 (Committing an offense by a group of persons, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, by an organized group or a criminal organization), part 1 of Article 122 (Intentional bodily harm of medium gravity) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to 3 years of imprisonment and under part 2 of Article 118 (Torture) of the Criminal Code of the Donetsk People's Republic to 7 years of imprisonment. Respectively, on the basis of part 1 of Article 70 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the Supreme Court of the DPR sentenced him to final punishment in the form of 10 years imprisonment in the correctional colony of general regime. This decision is dictated by the fact that the judiciary of the Donetsk People's Republic is guided by the Criminal Code, choosing from the Criminal Code of the DPR and the Criminal Code of Ukraine (the crime was committed before the adoption of the Criminal Code of the DPR), which defines a milder punishment, when determining the penalty.
Actually, it was not previously reported in detail, for what actions Karas' V.V. was convicted to such a significant period of imprisonment. Now it is already possible to acquaint the public with the facts that formed the basis of the accusation against citizen Karas' V.V.
Approximately on August 2-3, 2014, at about 11 a.m., Karas' V.V., while in Dokuchaevsky Municipal Department of the State Department of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Donetsk region, during a conversation with Yakovitsky K., the deputy chief of the Dokuchaevsky city department, found out that the servicemen of the Ukrainian armed forces had detained armed citizens of Dokuchaevsk, who were members of the Donbass People's Militia.
Having arrived to the Volnovakhsky Regional Department of the State Department of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Donetsk region, in the yard of the department, Karas' V.V. saw A., K., M., H., the detained members of the militia, and afterwards, together with the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and of "Azov" and "Aidar" battalions, during several days (until August 8, 2014) have been participating in torturing the detained militiamen: they beat their heads and trunks with legs and rifle butts, struck their fingers with hammers, pounded sewing needles under their fingernails, tore off fingernails, tortured them with electric current and with gas masks. "Law enforcers" from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, "Azov" and "Aidar" did not hesitate to torture those who were captured wounded. Thus, Karas' and his accomplices inflicted various injuries on the victims.
Sentencing Karas' V.V. for a term stipulated by the criminal legislation of Ukraine and the DPR, the judiciary of the Donetsk People's Republic gave a fair assessment of his actions.