Kyiv Court of Appeals has extended the arrest of former Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Yevhen Korniychuk, his lawyer Ihor Fomin told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
He said that he did not know for how long his client’s arrest had been extended, because a court hearing on Thursday had been held without the participation of lawyers and the accused.
"For some reason, the investigators have not reported this to us," the lawyer said.
On Dec. 24, 2010, the Prosecutor General’s Office detained Korniychuk, who earlier worked as a senior partner at the Magister & Partners law firm.
On Dec. 30, the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv ordered Korniychuk to be taken into custody for two months, and then he was transferred to a Kyiv pre-trial detention center.
The lawyer said that charges had been brought against Korniychuk under two articles of the Criminal Code – Article 365 (abuse of office, which entailed grave consequences) and Article 366 (forgery).
Some media reported that on Dec. 22 Korniychuk had provided testimony in a case related to the provision of services by the Magisters law firm (formerly known as Magister & Partners) to Naftogaz Ukrainy.
Korniychuk is charged that he, while serving as Ukraine’s first deputy justice minister, signed a letter permitting the holding of a tender on the provision of legal services to Naftogaz from a single law firm.
On Feb. 4, 2011, the Prosecutor General’s Office conducted a 14-hour search at the Kyiv office of the Magisters law firm, the company’s press service reported.
During the search, documents related to the investigation into a case on Naftogaz Ukrainy were seized, according to a report.
