A working group to speed up judicial system reform in Ukraine has been created according to the decree of president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
“Today, judicial reform is one of the priorities. A working group to
speed up the consideration of this reform by the Verkhovna Rada of
Ukraine was created according to my decree,” the president’s press
service quoted Poroshenko as saying.
The president expressed resentment towards the release of former MP
Viktor Lozinsky. “It’s impossible to imagine a more vivid negative
example that could illustrate the critical state of the judicial system.
Lozinsky is a conspicuous symptom,” Poroshenko said.
Head of state addressed the prosecutor general’s office, Interior
Ministry and Justice Ministry demanding to verify the legitimacy of the
decision by a judge of Boryspil city district court in Kyiv region
regarding Lozinsky’s release.
As reported, on June 16, 2009, Valeriy Oliynyk, a 55-year-old
resident of Kirovohrad region, died following an incident involving
Lozinsky, the former prosecutor of Holovanivsk district, Yevhen
Horbenko, and the former chief of the district police department,
Mykhailo Kovalsky.
In April 2011, Dniprovsky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Lozinsky
to 15 years in prison for the murder of Oliynyk, as well as for the
illegal possession and use of firearms and ammunition. Thus, Lozinsky
was convicted on 2 out of 6 articles under which the prosecutor’s office
had charged him. The court also made Lozinsky reimburse legal costs for
conducting analyses worth UAH 10,000.
The persons involved in the “Lozinsky case” were sentenced to various
terms in prison: former prosecutor of Holovanivsk district Yevhen
Horbenko – to nine years in prison, former head of the Holovanivsk
district department of police Mykhailo Kovalsky – to five years in
prison with a three-year probation period, and Holovanivsk forestry
huntsman Vasyl Perepelytsia – to four years in prison.
In March 2013, the Higher Specialized Court on Criminal and Civil
Cases, having considered the cassation of the judgment of former MP
Viktor Lozinsky, reduced his sentence by four years.
On June 11, 2014, Lozinsky was released due to his health conditions
by the judgment of the court. This was confirmed on the Facebook page of
Head of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine Serhiy Starenky.
Although, Starenky denied Penitentiary Service’s involvement in the
assessment of Lozinsky’s health condition that led to his release.
Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal against the
decision of Boryspil city district court to release former MP Lozinsky
due to his health conditions.
“The prosecutor’s office thinks such a court decision is illegal due
to the fact that the court has not proved that the diseases mentioned in
the medical records regarding the convict pose a threat to his life and
make his further stay in prison impossible,” the press service of the
regional prosecutor’s office reported.
On June 12, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that Lozinsky had
been detained: “A special criminal investigation group of the Ukrainian
Interior Ministry detained Viktor Lozinsky several minutes ago.”
Lozinsky was convoyed back to Boryspil Penal Colony No. 119, where he had been serving his sentence.
According to acting Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitsky, Lozinsky is
now in custody, and he has no way to escape; he will be protected until
the appeals court makes a decision.
Makhnitsky also said that as early as in May Lozinsky had been
transferred to the medical establishment of the Colony without reason.
“His release was being prepared and planned,” acting deputy Prosecutor
General summed up.
In addition, he added that the request to release Lozinsky came from
both his lawyer and Oliynyk’s mother. “Obviously, [they] were working on
the victim [Liubov Oliynyk], she didn’t file the request to release
this man for no reason,” he said.
Acting Prosecutor General said that criminal proceedings had been
opened regarding Penitentiary Service employees and the judge, who
delivered the illegal judgment. He explained that possible abuse of
power by the judge and possible bribing by the involved officials would
be looked into. Makhnitsky suspected that forensic medical examination
report on Lozinsky’s health had been falsified.
