War criminal Voislav Torden's case is moving to the Court of Appeals after the Deputy Prosecutor General expressed dissatisfaction with last week's Helsinki District Court ruling.
Last week, the district court sentenced the Russian national to life imprisonment for four war crimes but dismissed the charge related to a fifth war crime.
The crimes that led to the conviction occurred in eastern Ukraine, in the Luhansk region in September 2014.
At the time, Torden was a member of a volunteer group named Rusich, which participated in an armed attack against soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Aidar Battalion.
Prosecutor: Rusich involved in ambush
The court dismissed the charge that Torden, as the deputy leader of Rusich, led the operation as the group's soldiers organised and executed an ambush and shooting attack using a Ukrainian flag as a decoy.
The charge was dismissed because, according to the district court, the evidence presented did not conclusively establish that the Rusich group or unit was fully responsible for organising and carrying out the ambush.
Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe stated that while other groups were present during the ambush and shooting attack, this does not absolve one individual’s responsibility.
The prosecutor believes that Rusich operated closely with or was part of the larger Betmen group, and was involved in organising the ambush. He said these groups are responsible for the deaths of 22 Ukrainian soldiers and the injury of four others.
The court found Torden to be responsible only for the death of one wounded soldier.
Torden's lawyer, Heikki Lampela, immediately stated after the district court ruling that Torden intends to appeal the verdict to the Court of Appeals. Torden has denied committing war crimes.
At the time of the events, Torden used his former name, Jan Petrovski.
