Lawyer: Head of Podilskyi TCC should be suspended for the duration of investigation into Roman Sopin’s murder
11 November 19:30
The head of the Podil shopping center should be removed from office for the duration of the pre-trial investigation into the criminal proceedings over the premeditated murder of Roman Sopin. The lawyer of the victim’s family, Oleksandr Protas, said this in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
“A person died, and the manager is still working. He should be suspended so that he has no influence,” the lawyer emphasized.
He also drew attention to the similarity of witnesses’ testimony in the case.
“I was informed that there are 10 witness statements. I started to look at them – they were written under a copy, identical. This indicates that the head, using his official powers, influenced the witnesses to give the same type of testimony,” said Protas.
As a reminder, 43-year-old Roman Sopin died on October 23 in a Kyiv hospital. He was admitted to the hospital on October 19, and on October 18 he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The medical certificate of death lists blunt force trauma as one of the causes.
Earlier, the lawyer of Roman Sopin’s family, Oleksandr Protas, reported that on the day of the incident, two men had a conflict with Roman on the territory of the Podil shopping center.
In his turn, Vitaliy Silenko, a representative of the Kyiv City TCC’s communications group, denies this information and notes that there were no reports of any conflict situations.
“Roman Sopin was standing there, talking to other people who were there. Suddenly, he felt sick: he fainted, fell and began to convulse,” said Silenko.
The pre-trial investigation into the circumstances of Roman Sopin’s death is ongoing, it is classified under the article “premeditated murder” . Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said he was taking the case under his personal control. Military ombudsman Olga Reshetilova also expects law enforcement to work effectively, as she wrote on her Facebook page.
