Accused serial killer Onopriienko unrepentant during trial in Zhytomyr (12/13/98)

Accused serial killer Onopriienko unrepentant during trial in Zhytomyr

Eastern Economist

ZHYTOMYR, Ukraine - The trial of accused serial killer Anatolii Onopriienko, 39, finally got under way on November 23 in Zhytomyr.

A graduate of a regional sea navigation institute, he is accused of murdering 52 people - 10 of them children - over a seven-year period. Mr. Onopriienko has refused to repent, instead referring to himself as the biggest evil-doer of all time. On the basis of a psychological analysis carried out in the summer of 1997, the defendant has been ruled mentally fit to stand trial.

In all, 5,000 law enforcement officers were involved in the operation to catch Mr. Onopriienko. The case is the biggest criminal case in Ukraine in recent memory.

Proceedings started late because there was simply not enough money to bus in the hundreds of witnesses who are to testify at the trial; 310 witnesses were invited to participate in proceedings from Russia, Ukraine and Poland. The 150,000 hrv bill for their transportation was paid by the regional court.

Mr. Onopriienko again admitted his guilt on November 26 as his trial continued. A former soldier and sailor, he said lost his mother at age 4 and claimed that his father and brother consigned him to an orphanage at the age of 7. He claimed to possess telepathic powers and has said that he heard voices telling him to carry out the atrocities.

Mr. Onopriienko refused to testify on November 30. Instead, he made a number of requests for a new lawyer, which the court refused. He is currently being represented by a court-appointed attorney.

Experts speculated that Mr. Onopriienko is trying to delay the court hearing as a new lawyer would require time to get acquainted with the case.

Co-defendant Serhiy Rogozin, 36, who denies charges of helping in nine of the killings, later described Mr. Onopriienko as an intelligent and normal person, and claimed that the two had been friends. Mr. Onopriienko denied that he had been helped by Mr. Rogozin in the killings.

On December 3 Mr. Onopriienko claimed that in 1982 he was recruited by the secret service and killed people only to fulfill their orders. The court presented his testimonies from previous questioning, in which Mr. Onopriienko had claimed that he was led by "heavenly forces," and asked him to make up his mind. He replied that he "had lied, is now lying and will continue to lie," and refused to answer further questions.

Public opinion is strongly in favor of administering the death penalty in this case, which would take two years under Ukrainian law to carry out. The Zhytomyr court has already passed two death sentences this year alone.

In related news, Amnesty International has accused President Kuchma of violating the principle of the independence of the judiciary and the right of the accused to be presumed innocent in the Onopriienko case. The reason for the charge was that Mr. Kuchma had said on November 23 that "As a human being I cannot see any punishment for him other than death." Amnesty International also said the president's statement puts at risk the existence of a moratorium on executions in Ukraine.

President Kuchma's spokesman dismissed the criticism, saying that the president "has always considered Ukraine's judiciary to be independent."

Amnesty International also pointed to what it said is a series of civic rights violations throughout investigations of Mr. Onopriienko. Spokespersons for the international human rights organization said that they expect to be allowed to hold independent psychiatric examinations of Onopriienko as they doubt his psychological health.

If found to be insane, Onopriienko would be deemed unfit to stand trial for murder under Ukrainian law and would instead be committed indefinitely to a mental asylum.

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