Lviv court convicts the man who commissioned Radio Liberty journalist car arson

The Halytskyi District Court of Lviv has issued a verdict in the case against Vadym Dmytrenko, who commissioned the arson of the car belonging to Radio Liberty journalist Halyna Tereshchuk.

The ruling was passed on December 12, 2024, Radio Liberty reports.

The court sentenced Dmytrenko to six years in prison for willful destruction or damage to a journalist's property. He must also compensate about UAH 100 thousand in moral and material damages. The convict pleads not guilty.

The burned car of the Radio Liberty journalist Halyna Tereshchuk, Lviv, January 30, 2020. Photo by Radio Liberty

The ruling can be appealed to the Lviv Court of Appeal within 30 days from the date of its announcement.

According to the investigation, on the night of January 30, 2020, Yakob Sarakhman, aged 19, a then student of Lviv Polytechnic University, set fire to the car of the Radio Liberty journalist. Proceedings were opened against him under Article 194 (willful destruction or damage to property) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He pleaded guilty in court and named the people who ordered it.

Later, the Halytskyi District Court sentenced Sarakhman to five years in prison with a three-year probation period.

The victims in the case are the couple Halyna and Vasyl Tereshchuk. The investigation identified former police major of the Frankivsk district police department of Lviv, Mykhailo Cherdak (he is suspected of organizing the arson) and Vadym Dmytrenko (unemployed, previously convicted) as suspected perpetrators.

Previously

On January 30, 2020, a car belonging to Radio Liberty journalist Halyna Tereshchuk was set on fire in Lviv.

On May 25, 2020, the Halytskyi Court of Lviv sentenced a Khmelnytskyi resident aged 19, charged with setting the journalist’s car on fire, to five years in prison with a three-year probation period.

Two more people were involved in the arson case – Mykhailo Ch., Frankivsk district police major who was in hiding and wanted, and Vadym D., unemployed, previously convicted. Proceedings against the two were initiated under Article 347 (“Willful damage to a journalist’s property”) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On August 17, 2020, the SBU exposed a former Lviv National Police officer who, according to the investigation, organized the setting on fire of the Radio Liberty journalist’s car.

The detainee was notified of suspicion as part of criminal proceedings under Part 3 of Article 27 (complicity in a crime) and Part 2 of Article 347-1 (willful destruction or damage to a journalist’s property) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On December 4, 2020, the SBU submitted an indictment against the man who commissioned and organized the arson to court.

An indictment against a total of two persons involved in the proceedings has been submitted to court. They are accused of organizing the arson attack on the journalist’s car in relation to her reporting. The charges were brought under Part 3 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 347-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.