The verdict of the Lutsk City District Court was delivered on 22 February 2022. The case was heard by Judge Ihor Yaselskyi, and prosecutor Natalia Havrus, during the trial on the merits, had requested a nine-year sentence. The defence appeal was the last opportunity to review the decision on the merits, and the court rejected it without change. The appellate judges are not named in the Volynski Novyny publication.
The night on Vasyl Moisei Avenue
The story began on the evening of 14 November 2021 on Vasyl Moisei Avenue in Lutsk. According to the investigation, Roman Savych, in a state of intoxication, got behind the wheel of a Mazda 6 belonging to his wife, drove onto the pavement and struck 60-year-old Oleh Vedmedenko. The driver did not stop but headed for the car park of the Promin shopping centre. He was detained by passers-by, after which patrol police arrived at the scene.
The victim was taken to Lutsk City Clinical Hospital, where he died on the morning of 15 November. A case was opened under Part 3 of Article 286-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which concerns violation of traffic safety rules by a person driving a vehicle while intoxicated. Savych was detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The driver's previous history also drew journalists' attention: in August 2020 he attacked Lutsk municipal guards with a gas canister and was convicted under Part 2 of Article 350 of the Criminal Code to three years of restricted freedom. The Court of Appeal upheld that verdict on 19 October 2021.
Oleh Vedmedenko was born in Lutsk in 1961. He founded the Bible School of Spiritual Perfection, was consecrated as a bishop in 2012, headed the Volyn and Galicia Diocese from 2013, and in 2015–2019 was the primate of the UNAPC. As rector of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Lutsk, he was also a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and wrote several books. On the evening of 15 November a litany was held in his church, and on 16 November the funeral service and burial took place in the church courtyard. On the same day, the Lutsk City District Court, Judge Alla Paliushko presiding, ordered Savych to be held in custody for 60 days without bail.
The course of the investigation and trial
The family of the deceased sought a more serious qualification of the driver's actions. On 17 December 2021, a video of the moment of the accident was published. On 24 December the investigation was completed, and Part 1 of Article 135 of the Criminal Code, leaving in danger, was added to the charge. On 10 January 2022, the period of detention was extended to 10 March. On 7 February Savych stated in court that he had not fled, and on 11 February a number of witnesses were questioned.
In the appeal, defence lawyer Pavlo Poletylo insisted that the court of first instance had not examined some of the written evidence, had incorrectly assessed the rest and had not taken into account the convicted man's difficult life circumstances. He asked for Savych to be acquitted under Part 1 of Article 135 and sentenced to five years under Part 3 of Article 286-1, since, in his opinion, the punishment was too severe.
Savych himself claimed at the hearing that the video and audio recordings had been misinterpreted and that the witnesses' testimony had been distorted. He said: "I truly repent." According to him, he tried to compensate for the damage, but the family refused compensation. This position was refuted by the victims' representatives. The bishop's widow told journalists during a recess that she did not believe in the sincerity of his repentance and that the convicted man had never offered compensation for moral damage. In February 2022, the son of the deceased said that the family was not raising the issue of damages, so the parties' versions diverge.
The prosecutor, the family's lawyer Roman Khomych and the son of the deceased, priest Vasyl Vedmedenko, spoke against the appeal. Khomych stated that the evidence had been fully examined and the verdict was just, and also reminded of Savych's previous conviction for attacking municipal guards. The outcome of the hearing was summed up by the bishop's widow, who told journalists:
"We must forgive, because we are Christians. But God is his judge."
The question of the convicted man's fate was decided by the Court of Appeal: the verdict was left unchanged, and Roman Savych, serving his sentence under the decision of the Lutsk City District Court, continues to serve eight years and six months in prison and a nine-year disqualification from driving.
1
