Vitalii Markiv

Vitalii Mykhailovych Markiv (Ukrainian: Віталій Михайлович Марків, born August 16, 1989, Khorostkiv) is a former Ukrainian deputy commander[1] of the General Serhiy Kulchytsky Battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine. He was convicted by an Italian court to 24 years of imprisonment for allegedly directing a mortar fire that killed Russian dissident and journalist Andrei Mironov and Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli near the city of Sloviansk.[2] His conviction was eventually overturned, and he was exonerated on appeal on November 3, 2020.[3][4]

Vitalii Markiv
Born
Vitalii Mykhaylovych Markiv

(1989-08-16)August 16, 1989 (31 years)
Khorostkiv,  Ukraine
OccupationSocial Activist, Military personnel

Early life

Vitalii Markiv was born on August 16, 1989 in the city of Khorostkiv of Ternopil region in West Ukraine. At the age of 16 he moved to Italy with his sister and gained Italian citizenship.[5] He returned to Ukraine at the end of 2013 to take part in the demonstrations and the 2014 Euromaidan revolution.

Participation in the war in Donbass

In 2014 Markiv joined the National Guard of Ukraine and took part in the Battles for Sloviansk. He is a deputy platoon commander in the General Serhiy Kulchytsky Battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine.[6]

Investigation and trial in Italy

Markiv is а suspect in the killing Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli near the city of Sloviansk, Donetsk region, in May 2014 and was arrested during a trip in Italy, June 30, 2017.[7][3] He was in prisoned in Opera.[8]

Angelo Napolitano, Chief of the Penitentiary Police, reported that Markiv was planning to escape from prison, therefore he was transferred to Opera prison in 2017.[8]

After the court hearing on 8 February 2019, the interpreter, an Ukrainian woman, who had to translate from Ukrainian to Italian, such as the transcription of environmental wiretapping in prison, renounced the translation assignment.[9] Markiv's attorney requests the cancellation of all work done by the woman during the trial.[10] A year later, a witness declared that she became aware of the real reasons behind the translator's abandonment of the job, declaring that the latter would have been threatened in a telephone call by an unknown person, in Ukrainian language, who would have asked her to retract their translations.[11]

On 12 July 2019, a court in the Italian city of Pavia sentenced Markiv to 24 years in prison for involvement in the death of Italian photo reporter Andrea Rocchelli in the Donbass region in May 2014.[12] The ruling was criticized for being based on unclear evidence.[13]

Raffaele Della Valle, the lawyer of Markiv, had claimed his complete innocence and declared that he is going to appeal the tribunal sentence, he will have to file for appeal within ninety days of the publication of the sentence motivations by the Tribunal of Pavia.[14][15]

On November 3, 2020, the Milan Court of Appeal, while holding the Ukrainian armed forces guilty of the murder of the journalists,[16] overturned the sentence of Pavia Court and acquitted Vitalii Markiv of all charges,[17] "for not having committed the fact".[18] The following day Markiv returned to Ukraine.[3]

Reaction in Ukraine and abroad

According to the Ukrainian investigation, the journalists were killed in a shelling conducted by the "Russian-backed terrorist forces".[19]

Journalist Paul Gogo, who worked in Slavyansk during the time of shelling, described the decision of the court as "mind-blowing"[20] and such as based on false testimonies. According to Paul Gogo the Italian court proceeding was politicized and investigation wasn't done properly.[21][22]

The Advisor to the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, People's Deputy from the People's Front faction, Anton Gerashchenko said the detention in Italy of Markiv, a deputy commander of a battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine, on suspicion of murdering an Italian photojournalist might be another provocation by the Russian special services.[23]

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine expressed concern about the arrest of Vitaly Markiv.[24] As per ex-chief prosecutor of Ukraine Evgeniy Enin Ukrainian prosecution for three years tried to persuade Italian prosecution to visit the place of death to conduct the thorough examination, however Italian prosecution denied such proposal. According to the Ukrainian prosecution Markiv wasn't able to see or identify Rocchelli from his position.[25][26]

Rocchelli will subsequently listed on the Myrotvorets website, managed by the Security Service of Ukraine and promoted by Anton Gerashchenko.[27][28] On the photo of his page, which can be consulted online, the secret services applied the red wording "Liquidated", also reporting a note stating that the photojournalist was "cooperating with pro-Russian terrorist organizations" and that he had violated the border state of Ukraine to penetrate into the territory occupied by "Russian terrorist gangs".[29]

On July 4, 2017 Ukrainian activists organized a protest action against the detention Vitalii Markiv near the Embassy of Italy in Kyiv.[30] On July 24, 2017 another protest took place near the Embassy, organized by the far-right Ukrainian organisation S14.[31] On 12 July 2019, when Markiv was sentenced to 24 years in prison, another protest took place near the Embassy of Italy, organized by the "National Corps" the far-right political organisation of the Azov Battalion.[32][33]

On July 25, 2019, During the phone conversation with Italian PM Giuseppe Conte Ukrainian President Zelenskiy stressed an importance of unbiased investigation of the Andrea Rocchelli death and offered legal assistance from Ukraine in conducting a thorough joint examination of the circumstances of Rocchelli's death.[34]

The conviction of Markiv by Italian court was compared with conviction of Nadiya Savchenko by Russian court, also for allegedly directing mortar fire that killed journalists.[2]

Investigation in Russia

On 11 December 2020, the Moscow Basmanny Court charged Markiv for the murder of Rocchelli and Mironov and filed an arrest order against him.[35][36]

References
  1. "MP: Markiv detained in Italy is acting platoon commander in Kulchytsky battalion". kyivpost.com. 2017-07-01.
  2. Дмитрий Борко (2019-07-16). "Приговор по наводке". Грани.ру (in Russian). Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  3. Ukrainian Ex-Fighter Acquitted In 2014 Killing Of Italian Journalist Returns To Kyiv, Radio Free Europe (4 November 2020)
  4. https://news.rbc.ua/ukr/politics/italyanskiy-sud-opravdal-ukrainskogo-voennogo-1604430504.html
  5. "Who killed Andrea Rocchelli?". EuroNews. 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  6. "Task of PGO in Markiv case is to protect his legal interests in court - Yenin". InterFax. 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  7. "Ex-Ukrainian servicemen, suspect of killing Italian photographer near Sloviansk in 2014, detained in Italy". InterFax. 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  8. "Morte del reporter Rocchelli, la rivelazione: "Markiv aveva un piano per evadere"". 2019-01-26. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  9. "Morte Andy Rocchelli: presunte intimidazioni a interprete nel processo". tg24.sky.it. 2020-10-01.
  10. "Morte Rocchelli, presunte minacce all'interprete del processo di Pavia". milanotoday.it. 2020-10-01.
  11. "Qualcuno ha minacciato l'interprete ucraina del processo per la morte di Rocchelli". agi.it. 2020-10-01.
  12. "Суд над украинским неонацистом сочли результатом российской спецоперации". Lenta.ru (in Russian). 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  13. "Lo strano caso di Vitaly Markiv" (in Italian). 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  14. "Omicidio Rocchelli, Markiv condannato a 24 anni". La Provincia Pavese (in Italian). 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  15. "Processo Rocchelli, la lettura della sentenza: "24 anni di carcere per Vitaly Markiv"". Rainews (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  16. "Omicidio Rocchelli, così un errore formale ha portato all'assoluzione del soldato ucraino". repubblica.it. 2021-01-28.
  17. "Vitaly Markiv è stato assolto per l'omicidio del giornalista Andrea Rocchelli" (in Italian). 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  18. "Processo Rocchelli, assolto in appello Vitaly Markiv. Fnsi e Alg: "Continuare a cercare verità e giustizia"". fnsi.it. 2020-11-04.
  19. "Ukrainian serviceman, suspect of killing Italian photographer near Sloviansk, detained in Italy". UNIAN. 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  20. @Paugog (2019-07-13). "Une décision assez hallucinante de la justice italienne" (Tweet) (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-17 – via Twitter.
  21. "French journalist calls Markiv sentence "mind-blowing" & is willing to testify". Euromaidan Press. 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  22. "French journalist ready to testify in Ukrainian guardsman Markiv's case in Italy". UNIAN. 2019-07-15. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  23. "Ukrainian diplomats closely following the case of detained Ukrainian soldier in Italy". UAWIRE. 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  24. "The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is concerned over the detention of the Ukrainian military in Italy". Front News International. 2017-07-02. Archived from the original on 2018-01-20. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  25. "Посол Украины в Италии о деле Маркива: Это была спецоперация России против нас". Сегодня (in Russian). 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  26. "Дело Маркива: итальянцы не хотели провести следственный эксперимент в Украине, - Енин". Еспресо (in Russian). 2019-07-15. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  27. "Ukrainian hackers leak personal information of thousands of journalists". ibtimes.co.uk. 2016-05-13.
  28. "Украинцам активно блокируют счета из-за сайта "Миротворец"". ubr.ua. 2018-02-12.
  29. "Роккелли Андреа / Rocchelli Andrea / Rokkelli Andrea". Archived from the original on 2020-05-05.
  30. "Підтримати побратима гвардійці прийшли до посольства Італії". National Guard of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  31. "Ukraine: Nationalists protest Italian arrest of Ukrainian NSU fighter on murder charges". ruptly.tv. 2017-07-24. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  32. "Kiev, Ukraine. 12th July, 2019. Ukrainian activists shout slogans during a rally demanding the release of Ukrainian serviceman Vitaly Markiv". alamy.com. 2019-07-12.
  33. "kyivpost.com". Italy sentences Ukrainian soldier for Italian photographer murder; Ukraine says he’s innocent. 2019-10-11.
  34. "Zelensky discusses with Italian PM case of National Guard Vitaly Markiv". UNIAN. 2019-07-25. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  35. "Omicidio Rocchelli, il Tribunale di Mosca accusa Markiv". rainews (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  36. "Украинский нацгвардеец заочно арестован в РФ за убийство россиянина и итальянца". interfax.ru. 2020-12-11.
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