Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has refused to accept MP Hennadiy Moskal of the BYT-Batkivschyna as a defender of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, hasn't given any additional time for the defense to study the case materials, decided to continue the hearing in the absence of witnesses.
Presiding Judge Serhiy Vovk announced on Monday that Lutsenko’s request to accept Moskal as his defender has been rejected, since Moskal, appears as a witness in the case.
Moskal said to this: "I am not on the list of witnesses, it is absolutely not true."
Lutsenko said that this decision indicates Judge Vovk’s fear to accept Moskal as an advocate and violates the right to choose counsel.
After that Lutsenko has once again asked the court to give more time so that his defense could study the case.
The court, after consulting on the spot, rejected the request.
The defense also insisted that it was impossible to continue hearing of Lutsenko’s case without obtaining the official information from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine about the alleged criminal prosecution of Judge Vovk.
