Italian court to start consider appeal against Markiv's sentence in September

"The court of appeals in Italy will start to consider the case of National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv in September," the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine informs.

The hearings will take place in the Milan Court of Appeal.

"The lawyers filed a motion with the request to acquit Vitaliy Markiv definitively and unconditionally due to the lack of evidence of his involvement in the tragic incident that occurred on 24 May 2014 near the town of Slovyansk in Donetsk region," the Ministry notes.

In summer of 2017, Ukraine’s National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv was detained in Italy on charges of alleged involvement in the murder of Italian photographer Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter Andrei Mironov. They died as a result of a mortar shelling at the foot of the Karachun Mountain near Slovyansk town on May 24, 2014. At that time, the territory in Donetsk region was controlled by the militants.

On July 12, a court in the Italian town of Pavia sentenced Ukraine’s National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv to 24 years in prison.

Markiv's lawyers called the sentence "political" and declared the intention to file the appeal. The hearing of appeal in the Markiv case was not appointed for a long time due to coronavirus pandemic.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to make every effort for returning Markiv to the homeland.

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