Ex-Major General of Ukraine’s Security Service sentenced to 5 years in prison for calling to overthrow Ukrainian government
UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2022, 23:34
Oleksandr Tretiak, Ex-Major General of the Security Service of Ukraine, was sentenced, in absentia, to five years in prison for calling to seize state power in 2015. As part of his sentence, his property is subject to forfeiture.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine; Unified State Register of Court Decisions; Ministry of Internal Affairs search records
Details: Tretiak was found guilty of conspiring to use mass media to call for a violent regime change, to overthrow Ukraine’s constitutional order and to seize state power (Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 3 of Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He was sentenced to five years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Quote from the Prosecutor General’s Office: "Prosecutors proved in court that the former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine sided with the illegally created occupation regime in the ‘DPR’ [the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’].
In November 2015, the convict, who was then in the temporarily [Russian-]occupied city of Donetsk, and acting on previous agreements with representatives of the so-called [Ministry of State Security of the] "DPR", was filmed for a ["DPR" propaganda] video against the backdrop of [the "DPR"] symbols. He called for the termination of the then-Ukrainian government and [urged viewers] to fight it by all means possible. The video was distributed on the Internet on the same day [it was filmed]."
More details: The Prosecutor General's Office did not name the convicted person and did not state that the trial took place in absentia.
However, the scenario described in the court case matches the case that Oleksandr Tretiak, Ex-Major General of Ukraine’s Security Service, has been suspected of.
According to the court ruling from 2017, Tretiak "entered into a criminal conspiracy with unidentified representatives of the so-called ‘Ministry of State Security of the DPR’ to destabilise the socio-political situation in Ukraine by creating and disseminating materials calling for a violent regime change, overthrowing the constitutional order and seizing state power in Ukraine in [popular] media, including [on] the Internet" in November 2015, while in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast.
On 29 November 2015, Tretiak was directly involved in filming a video with symbols of the so-called "Ministry of State Security of the DPR" in the background. In the video, Tretiak called for the overthrow of the then-government of Ukraine. He urged viewers to fight against it and to use all means possible to replace the then-current government, which he called "illegal", with a government elected by the people in a legitimate way. This video was distributed on the Internet on the same day.
The same ruling stated that Tretiak was probably in the occupied territory of Donetsk Oblast and that a special pre-trial investigation into his conduct was launched.
On the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tretiak is still listed as a person wanted under Article 109, Part 3 (Public calls for violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power, as well as dissemination of materials calling for such actions, committed by a person who is a representative of the authorities, or repeatedly, or by an organised group, or with the use of mass media).
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