It is difficult for victims of war crimes in court, but their testimonies to become 'bricks' for tribunal – Irpin court dpty head
It is emotionally difficult for victims of war crimes of the occupiers to give testimonies at court hearings on charges of Russian military personnel, but at the same time it is extremely important, since the aggression tribunal takes into account the testimonies of the victims, and not the verdicts of Ukrainian courts, Deputy Head of Irpin Court of Kyiv region Mykhailo Odariuk said.
In an exclusive video interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Odariuk said that he was the first in Irpin City Court of Kyiv region to pass a verdict on a war crime committed by the occupiers [the court's jurisdiction extends to Irpin, Bucha, and Hostomel].
"We feel everything that happened (during the occupation) in our cases. I passed a verdict against nine Russian servicemen who were accused of torture. The case was based solely on the testimony of the victim. They (the occupiers) took him away three times, did not give him food, beat him... The victim was actually our only source of evidence," the judge said.
Odariuk said: "What the victims saw during the occupation, mass brutal crimes, cannot be conveyed in words. It is very good that he (the victim) was able to tell at all, because there is a big problem with this. People do not want to remember."
In general, according to the judge, the victims are normal about not seeing the accused in the war crime on the dock. "He is either not yet detained, or there is information that this person was killed. But we cannot close the proceedings, because there is no documentary confirmation and no one can provide it to us except Russia," Odariuk said.
The judge assured that he understands the victims not only as a judge, but also as a citizen. "I understand that when you come to court, you want to see some satisfaction from the process, that in the end the criminal will be punished," he said, adding that despite the emotional complexity, the victims are understanding of the circumstances that are developing.
"The judges explain to them: what you say, what you tell the judges, being under oath, being warned about criminal liability, these are, so to speak, bricks in the future process of the international tribunal," the deputy head of Irpin court said.
He said the court verdicts are not taken into account directly. "But the testimony that was given under oath in court is taken into account. That is, in fact, we are doing preparatory work. So that in the future it is possible to bring high-ranking officials of the Russian Federation to criminal liability," Odariu said.
Answering the question whether he personally believes in the inevitability of punishment of the enemy, the deputy head of Irpin court noted: "I hope so. Without this, my work would have no meaning."
"I have faith that a tribunal will be created. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, and not this year. Crimes against security, peace... on the surface, we all see missile and drone attacks... There is a lot of evidence with video recording that it was a hit," Odariuk said.
At the same time, he said: "Even when the Armed Forces of Ukraine shoot down an enemy missile and it falls somewhere, God forbid, into a house and someone gets injured or dies altogether, it doesn't matter, because it is related to the military aggression of the Russian Federation. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are not responsible for this, because this would not have happened if the missile had not been launched."
At the same time, the judge clarified that not a single person has been convicted of the crime of aggression – even after the Second World War, everyone was acquitted of this crime, because this type of crime is too difficult to prove.