The lawyers of former Acting Defense Minister of Ukraine Valeriy Ivaschenko are planning to appeal against the sentence of five years in prison, which was given to their client by the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv.
"Of course, we will file an appeal within 15 days," Ivaschenko’s lawyer, Borys Nechyporenko, told reporters on April 12.
He said that in the verdict against Ivaschenko, the court actually duplicated the indictment. He also added that the court cannot physically prepare a proper verdict within two days.
Nechyporenko said that his client had not committed illegal actions and that there was no crime in his actions, because he was not involved in the sale of the property of the state-owned Feodosiya Shipbuilding and Mechanical Plant.
"The case was obviously ordered by someone. They just decided to finish with him this way," the lawyer said.
Ivaschenko earlier described the verdict as unjust.
Kyiv’s Pechersky District Court sentenced Ivaschenko to five years in prison, banning him from holding public office for three years.
As reported, on August 20, 2010, the Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case against Ivaschenko under Part 2, Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or office).
In November 2009, Ivaschenko signed a bailout plan concerning the sale of the property of the Defense Ministry’s state-owned enterprise Feodosiya shipbuilding and mechanical plant, including strategically important infrastructure facilities, including three moorings, bomb shelters and a building for the storage of mobilization reserves.
