A panel of judges of the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv on Thursday refused to postpone the hearing of a criminal case against former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko despite his poor health.
"The court, having consulted on the spot, decided to reject the petition, taking into account a verbal statement by doctors about Lutsenko’s ability to participate in the process," the presiding judge, Serhiy Vovk, said, noting that the lawyers and the defendant may file petitions to announce a break to take medicine.
After hearing such a court ruling, the former minister’s wife, Iryna Lytsenko, told Vovk: "Your honor, do you have any human conscience at all? This is just brutishness!" After that, she left the courtroom.
Earlier on Thursday, Ihor Fomin, a lawyer for the former interior minister, asked the court to announce a break in a court session due to the worsening of his client’s health and move the hearing to another date.
The lawyer said that Lutsenko felt unwell on Thursday morning and that an ambulance was called for him. After that, the ex-minister managed to attend the court session.
Vovk decided to invite doctors to the courtroom to examine Lutsenko and either confirm or refute the statement made by his lawyer.
Despite the ex-minister’s statement that it was unnecessary to call the ambulance again, the court still decided to announce a technical break in its session.
