Lawyers for disgraced former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych have appealed to Kyiv’s regional administrative court with a petition addressed to Kyiv’s Pechersk district court about ensuring the rights of their client to provide testimony in criminal cases opened against him.
“It is the right of any citizen of our country, guaranteed by the Ukrainian Constitution, Criminal Procedural Code, international agreements on civil and political rights, the Convention on Human Rights to be questioned about a case in which he or she is accused. Kyiv’s Pechersky district court has already repeatedly violated this right regarding my client and refused to admit (Yanukovych’s) testimony, without which it will be impossible to determine the truth,” Yanukovych’s lawyer Vitaly Serdiuk was quoted as saying by the press service of the Aver Lex law firm.
The defense demands acknowledgement of the illegal step taken by Kyiv’s Pechersky district court depriving Yanukovych of the right to trial and providing testimony.
“We submitted a motion on December 28, 2016 and hope that the decision of Kyiv’s regional administrative court will oblige adherence to Articles 55 and 129 of Ukraine’s Constitution, Article 6 of the Convention on defending human rights and basic freedoms, the international pact on civil and political rights … to provide Yanukovych the opportunity to provide testimony,” Serdiuk was quoted as saying.
