Those who were exchanged do not want to play with Ukrainian justice - lawyer
The ex-Berkut employees returned as part of the pre-New Year exchange, who, according to Ukrainian law, must come to the country to participate in the process, are unlikely to do so.
Valentin Rybin, a lawyer defending political prisoners in Ukraine, stated this on the KRT television channel, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to the lawyer, the Berkut, who spent almost six years in prison, during this time have studied the Ukrainian law enforcement system well and, once free, do not want to end up in the dungeons of the regime anymore.
“Those guys who left Ukraine as a result of changing the preventive measure, of course, now face a very difficult choice. Because if they do not return, the cases against them will be suspended, and they will be put on the wanted list. And it seems to me that this is another step towards the amnesty that should be accepted. Because people who served in a pre-trial detention center do not want to return to these terrible conditions under any circumstances. That is, without actually being criminals.
Therefore, it seems to me that the return percentage will be very small. We can look at the case of the Kyiv “Berkut” - the guys who spent almost six years in a pre-trial detention center and now have finally received freedom, I don’t think that they will return here, seeing how their preventive measure was changed 27-28 December. Seeing the absolute absurdity, I think that there is no point in playing with Ukrainian justice again at the stage of time at which we are now,” Rybin said.
As PolitNavigator reported, several Berkut officers were extradited by Kiev to the LPR and DPR as part of a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
It was also said that former Berkut officers cannot find work in Russia.
Those involved in the exchange don't want to play with Ukrainian justice, says lawyer