The Higher Specialized Court of Ukraine for Criminal and Administrative Cases has postponed the hearing of an appeal by former Ukrainian acting defense minister Valeriy Ivaschenko against his sentence until 10 a.m. on March 12.
The panel of judges passed this decision because of Ivachenko’s absence for health reasons.
As reported, Kyiv’s Pechersky District Court sentenced Ivaschenko to five years in prison on April 12, 2012, banning him at the same time from occupying government and administrative positions for three years. Ivaschenko’s pretrial detention since August 21, 2010 has been counted toward the prison term set by the court.
While serving as an acting defense minister in November 2009, Ivaschenko signed a financial recovery plan for the Feodosia Ship and Mechanical Plant drawn up by a former head of the plant’s financial recovery procedures. The document envisioned the sale of government property, including three berths, a bomb shelter, and a building for the storage of mobilization reserves.
On August 14, 2012, the Court of Appeals in Kyiv replaced the five-year imprisonment for Ivaschenko with a suspended sentence with a one-year probation period.
Ivaschenko’s defense lawyer Nechyporenko said that the defense would appeal against the ruling by the appellate court, as it believed the defendant was not guilty. The court’s decision to hand down a suspended sentence was a partial victory, the lawyer said.
