The police officers did all necessary investigative actions within their authority concerning the murder of Kateryna Handziuk, adviser of Kherson Mayor and public activist, as the Interior Ministry of Ukraine reported.
“The police did all necessary investigative actions within its authority and according to the decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine made today, on November 5, it passed the case to the Chief Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU),” the message said.
The ministry specified that within the authority, the National Police questioned 367 people as the witnesses, appointed 21 forensic analysis, held nine searches, four reconstruction, 26 checks, 100 undercover investigative actions against 31 persons.
Particularly, the investigation against five accused whom the law enforcers considered to be perpetrators and organizers of the crime was finished.
“According to the decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, all the materials for the objective investigation were passed to the Chief Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine that deals with the investigation on the establishing of the instigators of the crime. It will allow the SBU investigators to unite the criminal proceedings and hold the pretrial investigation from the moment of the planning and the actual end.”
Earlier head of the National Police of Ukraine Serhiy Knyazev claimed that the entire evidential base in Kateryna Handziuk’s case was collected by the law enforcers, and the materials would be submitted to the court in the near future.
On November 4, Kateryna Handziuk, Adviser of Kherson's Mayor, known as a public activist, died aged 34.
She was attacked near her place. The attacker soaked her with acid. The woman was hospitalized. 30 percent of her body was burned: head, arms, legs, chest, and left eye.
The attack on the employee of the City Council of Kherson was reclassified from "Hooliganism" to "Serious physical injuries committed with the aim of intimidation", and after a while - on "Attempted murder with a special cruelty."
Prosecutor General took the case under his own control. He reported that the attack on the adviser was a part of the plan to destabilize the situation in the south of Ukraine. Later the investigation was transferred to the central office of the SBU.
