Court leaves Sheremet murder suspect Antonenko in custody

Kyiv Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal filed by the defense team of Donbas war veteran Andrii Antonenko, a suspect in the case of the murder of journalist Pavlo Sheremet, against a trial court ruling to extend his detention, the Free Riff community has reported on Facebook.

"Andrii Antonenko has been left in custody. Presiding Judge [Tetiana] Frych," the report said.

Journalist Pavlo Sheremet was killed in a car explosion in Kyiv on July 20, 2016.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on December 12, 2019 that Sheremet murder suspects had been detained. Investigators currently suspect doctor and volunteer Yulia Kuzmenko, paratrooper battalion nurse Yana Duhar, and Donbas war veteran Andrii Antonenko.

On May 25, Kyiv's Pechersky District Court granted the prosecutors' motions and changed the measure of restraint for Duhar from house arrest to UAH 168,000 bail.

Kuzmenko and Antonenko remained in a pretrial detention center. On August 11, Kyiv Court of Appeal changed the measure of restraint for Kuzmenko to round-the-clock house arrest.

op