Pechersky District Court Judge Hanna Medushevska has refused to close a criminal case opened against former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko for authorizing the illegal surveillance of Valentyn Davydenko, the driver of former SBU First Deputy Head Volodymyr Satsiuk, reads a statement posted on the official Web site of the People's Self-Defense Party.
The judge read out a respective decision after returning from the deliberation room. Medushevska said the court could take a decision to close the criminal case only after studying all of the evidence and hearing the opinions of experts and the testimony of witnesses. The judge said that the request to close the criminal case is premature at this stage.
After that, in connection with her employment in another process, Medushevska announced a break in the Lutsenko case until 0830 on May 18, 2012, the report says.
As reported, Lutsenko and his lawyer, Oleksiy Bahanets, filed a petition at Pechersky District Court on the closure of a criminal case on charges brought against Lutsenko regarding the illegal wiretapping of driver Davydenko. The petition was announced after Medushevska for the second time rejected the request on the removal of the judge.
"In this case there is no crime committed by Lutsenko, Tarasenko and Pavlenov [former employees of the Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation department, Volodymyr Tarasenko and Oleh Pavlenov]. You have the only solution – to close this far-fetched case," Lutsenko said.
