Serhiy Sternenko was found guilty of abducting a person and sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison. This decision was made by the Prymorsky Court of Odesa, the online broadcast of the hearing was held on Facebook.
The court recognized the seized during the search items as admissible evidence. Sternenko himself claims that the search of his home was carried out without a lawyer, with whom he was not allowed to contact. The testimony of local deputy Serhiy Shcherbych, who accuses Sternenko of his abduction, was also found credible.
The court also ruled for the confiscation of half of Sternenko's property as a punishment and decided to take the activist into custody in the courtroom.
Later, Sternenko himself wrote about the decision of Prymorsky Court on his Facebook page.
Sternenko is accused of kidnapping Serhiy Shcherbych in 2015.
On May 1, 2018 the former head of Odesa local branch of Right Sector Serhiy Sternenko was attacked by unknown people. As a result, one of the attackers was fatally stabbed. Police have opened a criminal case under the article for intentional homicide.
On June 11, 2020, the Security Service of Ukraine informed Sternenko about the suspicion of intentional homicide and carrying a cold weapon without permission, and on June 12, the first court hearing in his case took place.
It should be noted that after the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions against 112 Ukraine, NewsOne and ZIK TV channels, the radical activist Sternenko announced a "hunt" for journalists of opposition TV channels.