Debate on Lutsenko case postponed due to absence of injured party

Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has postponed a court hearing on the criminal case under which former Interior Minister of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko is accused of negligence when signing an order on the prolongation of an investigative case concerning Volodymyr Davydenko, the driver of former SBU Deputy Chief Volodymyr Satsiuk.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, the court planned to hold a debate on the case during the hearing on Friday, Aug.3. At the beginning of the hearing, Lutsenko's defense lawyer filed a petition that the injured party Davydenko be taken to the courtroom, as this is stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Davydenko did not come to the hearing for an unknown reason.

Judge Hanna Medushevska postponed the hearing until 0815 on August 10.

On February 27, 2012, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv found Lutsenko guilty of committing official crimes and sentenced him to four years in prison, with confiscation of his property.

The essence of the charges lies in the fact that Lutsenko, while serving as interior minister, allegedly facilitated the accrual of an illegal pension to his driver, Leonid Prystupliuk, the allocation of housing to him, as well as his inclusion in the operational services department.

The court also found the ex-minister guilty of misusing public money for the celebration of the Police Day at the Ukraine National Palace in 2008-2009.

Lutsenko is also charged with the extension of an investigative case concerning the driver of former SBU First Deputy Chief Volodymyr Satsiuk, as part of an investigation into the poisoning of then presidential candidate Viktor Yuschenko. Court hearing of this case is underway.

Lutsenko was arrested on December 26, 2010. He is still being kept at the pre-trial detention facility in Kyiv.