Interviewing Italian journalists in the Ukrainian Markiv case: questions are more than answers

In the northern part of Italy, in the city of Pavia, the trial of the fighter of the National Guard of Ukraine, Vitaliy Markiv, continues. He has been in Milan for more than a year and a half for his involvement in the murder of an Italian photographer near Slavic on May 24, 2014. On Friday, December 14, at the fifth following meeting, he was arrested. accusation heard witnesses – Italian journalists who were then in the Donbass

Among the accounts of five eyewitnesses to the event, the testimony of photographer Marcello Fauci and journalist Ilaria. Moranie After the death of his colleague Andrea Rockelli and his Russian translator Andriy Mironov, the witness-reporters spoke with Vitaliy Markiv. Caller to the Ukrainian Fauci, while his colleague Morani listened to the conversation through a strong connection.

During this conversation, the Ukrainian army advised the Italians not to visit the near Slav region because of the high danger it was leading. It is unclear when this conversation took place: the day of the tragic incident of May 24, 2014, as stated Marcello Fauci, or the next day, as indicated by Ilaria Morani. After his article on the death of Roquequelle with quotes from Marki, the newspaper Corriere della Sera was published on May 25, 2014, a few hours after the communication with the soldier, said the correspondent. It is in this article that the prosecutor bases charges against a Ukrainian soldier.

Today at the court, photojournalist Fauzi confirmed that Vitaliy Markiva was aware of the revolutionary events in Kiev in the winter of 2014, and then contacted him to ask him for information. on his journalistic work. The photographer expressed uncertainties and confusion in the answers, but it became clear that Marcello Fauci did not remember well the place or the meaning of the telephone conversation, that is to say that he did not not so important. As a result, defenders of Radio Liberty are informed that the content of this conversation may not be an element of the charge against Vitaliy Markiv.

Fauzi also confirmed that after his return to Kiev in 2014 he had met Markiv, who had given the photographer armor. "Clearly, Fowichi does not consider the soldier guilty," commented Radio Liberty Donatella Rapty defendant of the defendant.

Hilaria Morani's testimony focused on the role of the National Guard in the military at that time. The defense lawyer Rafaelella della Valle asks if she knows the rank of the accused, because in the title of his publication, Markiv is called the captain, that is to say the commander who would have gave orders to the army. According to the journalist, the title was not written by her, but it is clear from the words of the "informant", Markiva, that he held a leading position in his unit. "He often spoke about the army" of my people "and so I understood that he was a leader," said Ilaria Morani, a witness. These two witnesses indicated a different time and place of conversation. It is still unclear how journalists spoke with "the informant" in which language: the photographer Fauci says that it is only in Italian, and Morani had already declared partly in Italian and in English. He noted today that it was only in Italian.

The other witnesses who recognized the bodies of the dead (Andrea Rockelli and his interpreter, the Russian Andriy Mironov), unanimously repeated about the great danger that weighed in the area, frequent explosions, gunshots and the presence of pro-Russian militants with whom they communicated regularly. On the Donbass, these journalists came from the Ukrainian side via Kiev.

According to the results of the meeting, the testimony of the journalists became relatively relative and did not bring any evidence to the account of the accused, noted Radio Liberty Raffaele della Valle. "For the moment, without triumph, the decision is up to the judges, but the elements actually heard can not be considered as able to confirm the responsibility of the accused," concluded the defender of the Ukrainian MarkIV.

The parents of the late photographer and court lawyers again refused categorically to communicate with Radio Svoboda and left the court by the side exit to avoid meeting the press.

On the accusation side, the head of the journalists' union in Italy Giuseppe Giulietti positively assesses the progress of the process, namely, as he underlines, "the beginning of the debate on the dynamics of this murder ". "I do not know who is guilty, it is clear that the journalists were present and that someone shot at them.We want to understand who and why?" – said Juliet at the microphone Radio Liberty. He declined to comment on today 's testimony by denouncing the inaction of Ukrainian police officers. According to Juliet, many witnesses in Ukraine were not interviewed immediately after a tragic event.

The next meeting will be held on January 18, 2019. Listen again to the indictment of the prosecution – the Italian investigating forces who conducted the investigation .