Police describe report of the Council of Europe on investigation into Odesa tragedy as ‘expert opinion’

The Interior Ministry of Ukraine has responded to the report that harshly criticizes the actions of the law enforcement officers, having described it as “expert opinion.”

Spokesperson for the Interior Ministry Artem Shevchenko said this on the air of Hromadske.tv, commenting on the report of the International Advisory Panel on the investigation into the mass riots and fire in the House of Trade Unions in Odesa on May 2, 2014.

“I can assess it only as the opinion of the advisory group. The investigation has been very detailed and comprehensive,” he noted.

“In particular, 305 forensic examinations have been conducted. 1,025 people have been questioned as witnesses, 114 people have been detained on suspicion of organizing and active participation. The proceedings against two people were closed,” Shevchenko said.

However, the Interior Ministry spokesperson promised that the Ministry would draw conclusions from the report.

“Of course, we’ll draw [conclusions]. We understand that the report is critical, but the complexity of the investigation should be also taken into account,” he said.

As a reminder, the International Advisory Panel has recently present the report arguing that the main problem of the investigation was insufficient number of relevant specialists and the inability of the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Interior Ministry of Ukraine to share the powers within the investigation into the tragedy in Odesa.