You're reading: Court gives prosecution three days to prepare for next stage of Lutsenko’s trial

Pechersky District Court in Kyiv has announced a break in the hearing of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko's case until July 20 at the request of the public prosecution.

On Tuesday, the court completed the questioning of the ex-minister, and representatives of the state prosecution asked for time to prepare for the next stage of the trial.

Meanwhile, Lutsenko asked the court to close the criminal case, since the prosecution had not provided evidence of his guilt during the trial.

After returning from the deliberation room, Presiding Judge Hanna Medushevska said that they decided to satisfy the prosecutors’ request and give them three days to prepare the materials for the next stage of the trial. At the same time, they dismissed Lutsenko’s petition to close the case.

“During the trial the prosecutors failed to provide any evidence of the crime. None of the witnesses has confirmed my guilt. This means that in fact the indictment has completely fallen apart,” Lutsenko said.