Man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of former MP Iryna Farion
Viacheslav Zinchenko, 20, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv for the murder of linguist and former MP Iryna Farion.
Source: Prosecutor General's Office; Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne
Quote from the Prosecutor General's Office: "Prosecutors from the Lviv Oblast Prosecutor's Office have proved in court that a resident of Dnipro was guilty of the murder of public activist and former Ukrainian MP Iryna Farion. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment."
Details: The Prosecutor General's Office added that during the trial, the prosecution had proved that the man had committed the murder "in connection with the victim's performance of her public duty and motivated by ethnic intolerance".
"The convicted man held views in regard to the supposed 'ethnic discrimination against Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens'. He regarded Iryna Farion, who was known for her public stance in defence of the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture, as someone who was supposedly 'dividing national unity'. It was on this basis that he formed the intent to kill her, which he subsequently carried out by firing the fatal shot," the Prosecutor General's Office said.
The court also ordered UAH 5 million (about US$111,000) to be paid to Farion's daughter, Sofiia Osoba, as compensation for non-pecuniary damage.
Suspilne reported that Zinchenko denied any wrongdoing and his most recent lawyer described the case as fabricated.
While delivering the verdict, the judge stressed that Zinchenko had repeatedly been offered the opportunity to speak during the closing arguments, but had declined each time because he had not agreed his position with his defence lawyers.
The verdict can still be appealed in the court of appeal.
Background:
- Iryna Farion was murdered on 19 July 2024 near her home in Lviv. The assailant approached Farion and shot her in the head from about two metres away before fleeing the scene.
- Farion was taken to hospital, but doctors were unable to save her. She died later that day.
- On 25 July 2024, 18-year-old Viacheslav Zinchenko was detained on suspicion of murdering Iryna Farion. He was served with a notice of suspicion the following day.
- On 26 July 2024, Zinchenko was remanded in custody without the option of bail. He told journalists after the pre-trial restriction hearing that he had not killed Farion.
- On 26 December 2024, the legal classification of Zinchenko's offences was changed to intentional killing of a person in connection with the performance of a public duty, motivated by ethnic intolerance, as well as illegal handling of weapons.
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