You're reading: Pastor Adelaja’s lawyer sure charges against his client unfounded

Andriy Fedur, the lawyer of the pastor of the Embassy of God church, Sunday Adelaja, is sure that all the charges against his client are groundless.

“I think all these charges are invalid from a legal point of view. No doubt the defense will refute the charges,” Fedur said at a press conference in Kyiv.

The lawyer noted that he does not see any reason for Adelaja’s case even to come to court since “there are no grounds for this.”

“I will prove the invalidity of [the charges] and the criminal case will be closed,” he said.

At the same time, he stressed that the order on the institution of criminal proceedings against Adelaja has not been appealed against in court. The lawyer said he was surprised about the public announcement of Adalaja’s name in connection with the King’s Capital case.

He noted that according to the Civil Code, in such cases it is forbidden to use the name of a person without a court ruling being in effect.

As reported, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry has accused Adelaja of defrauding citizens of money. Adelaja was accused as part of the investigation into a criminal case on the King’s Capital financial group, which was opened in January 2009. Part 4, Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (large-scale embezzlement of funds), under which he has been charged, envisages five to 12 years of imprisonment, along with confiscation of property.

The head of the Interior Ministry, Yuriy Lutsenko, claimed on November 25, 2008 that Adelaja was involved in organizing the activities of King’s Capital.

On March 14, 2009 the pastor signed a pledge not to leave the country.