Court upholds Ivaschenko’s suspended sentence

The court announced this ruling on Tuesday after having considered an appeal by Ivaschenko.

Thus, the Higher Specialized Court dismissed Ivaschenko’s appeal against the ruling of an appellate court, which replaced the five-year imprisonment for Ivaschenko with a suspended sentence with a one-year probation period.

Meanwhile, the prosecution revoked its appeal against the appellate court’s ruling in February, and the court did not consider it.

Commenting on the Higher Specialized Court’s ruling, Ivaschenko’s defense lawyer Borys Nechyporenko said: “Of course we are not happy with this decision. We will challenge it in the European Court of Human Rights, since we believe that Ivaschenko has not committed any crime.”

Ivaschenko was not present at the hearing.

As reported, on April 12, 2012, Kyiv’s Pechersky District Court sentenced Ivaschenko to five years in prison, 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, according to Article 82 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On August 14, 2012, Kyiv Court of Appeals replaced the five-year imprisonment for Ivaschenko with a suspended sentence with a one-year probation period.

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 February 13, 2013, tyzhden.ua reported that Ivaschenko was granted political asylum in Denmark under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Foreign Ministry of Denmark confirmed this information.

Later, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine said that Ivaschenko had received a residence permit in Denmark, rather than political asylum.