Kyiv’s Obolonsky district court will continue hearings at 2:00 p.m. on December 6 and 10:00 on December 7 on the criminal case of former president Viktor Yanukovych, who is charged with high treason.
This decision was taken by the court on December 4, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
Yanukovych’s public defender asked the court not to hold the December 7 meeting, as he is involved in another process related to events in the village of Kniazhychi in Kyiv region [a notorious shoot-out between law-enforcement officers] with a large number of the accused and injured.
Having analyzed the request, the presiding judge Vladyslav Devyatko said that there are no persons in custody in the process in question, and the proceedings related to Yanukovych’s treason are no less important, therefore, the meeting will be held as planned earlier, i.e. on December 7.
The judge noted that at the meeting on December 7, the court would be able to start studying the written evidence on the part of the defense after it is through with the examination of the evidence provided by the prosecution, which is already at the final stage.
Devyatko also asked participants in the process to prepare a substantiated petition for December 7, which authorizes the questioning of the witnesses on the part of the prosecution and the defense, and according to him, the court would be able to begin the questioning the coming week.
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