Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office has said that former First Deputy Justice Minister Yevhen Korniychuk and his lawyer, Ihor Fomin, while commenting on the course of the trial in a criminal case opened against the former official, are providing misleading information in the press and are trying to put pressure on the courts.
"Fomin and Korniychuk are trying both to create in advance the public perception that the latter is not guilty of committing crimes, and to put pressure on the courts. They are pursuing the same goal by claiming that the prosecution is allegedly delaying the trial," the media liaisons office of the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Wednesday.
The office said that members of the public prosecution are exercising their right to provide evidence and confirm their conviction in court.
"These actions [by Korniychuk and Fomin] at the current stage of criminal proceedings, are improper and beyond the procedural rights of the defendant and his lawyer. In accordance with Article 124 of the Constitution of Ukraine, as well as Articles 15 and 324 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine, a decision on whether there was a crime and whether the defendant is guilty of committing a crime is taken exclusively by the court while giving the verdict of guilty or not guilty in the case," reads the statement.
As reported, on December 22, 2010, the Prosecutor General’s Office detained Korniychuk. On December 30, Pechersky District Court of Kyiv ordered that Korniychuk be taken into custody for two months as a pre-trial restriction, and then he was transferred to a Kyiv pre-trial detention center.
On February 15, the investigator changed the pre-trial restrictions on Korniychuk from arrest to a written undertaking not to leave Kyiv.
Korniychuk is charged with abuse of office that entailed grave consequences, and forgery.
Some media reported that on December 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 February 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.
Korniychuk and his lawyer said after the last court session that the hearings of the case were being delayed. They also expressed hope that a verdict of not guilty would be given.
