Dniprovsky District Court in Kyiv on January 10 finished reading a letter of charges in the criminal case against former lawmaker Viktor Lozinsky, a suspect in a murder case.
A report on judicial disposition took an hour and a half, after which participants of the legal process decided on the further course of the procedure.
In particular, it is planned to question the accused – Lozinsky, Yevhen Horbenko, Mykhailo Kovalsky, Vasyl Perepelytsia, the injured parties, witnesses and experts. After that, the materials of the case will be examined and court hearings will be held.
When the reading of the letter of charges was over, the chief judge Nelli Lastovka asked the accused whether they admitted their guilt. Lozinsky said that he partially admits guilt, and added that he is ready to answer all questions on the case.
In turn, Horbenko said he would not plead guilty, and added that he would partially give evidence. Perepelytsia gave the same answer and said that he is ready to give full evidence.
The accused Kovalsky said that he pled guilty in full and was ready to give evidence.
On Tuesday, at the beginning of the court sitting Horbenko sat in the same barred dock as Lozinsky and Perepelytsia, while during the previous court sittings he sat on a bench separate from them.
During a break, when asked who changed Horbenko’s measure of restraint from recognizance not to leave his place of residence to detention, and when and why this decision was taken, a representative of the prosecutor’s office said that the investigator makes such decisions.
At the same time, Lozinsky’s lawyer Viktor Hrytsiuk noted that Horbenko’s measure of restraint was changed before the New Year. In turn, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine promised to answer the question as soon as possible.
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 the Holovanivsk district, Yevhen Horbenko, and the former chief of the district police department, Mykhailo Kovalsky.
On July 3, the Ukrainian parliament revoked the deputy immunity of Lozinsky at his own request. The former MP was put on the wanted list. On March 1, 2010, the law enforcement authorities detained Lozinsky in Kyiv.
Lozinsky is accused under six articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including Article 115 (premeditated murder), which envisages a 15-year sentence or life imprisonment. Horbenko and Kovalsky are accused under several articles of the Criminal Code, including Article 364 (abuse of power), which envisages up to ten years in prison.
