The OGPU argues that the possibilities for the procedural response of prosecutors, which could prevent the above negative consequences, are currently exhausted.
Those accused of abductions and mockery of activists Lutsenko and Verbitsky in January 2014 may be released. The reason is that the defense side and some judges of the Belotserkovsky city district court of the Kiev region refuse to take part in the hearings in the case. About this on Friday, August 6 informs press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The Attorney General’s office said that such actions led to the fact that the preventive measure in the form of keeping the accused in custody ends on August 7. And the petitions sent to the court for its extension were never considered.
“Due to the failure of the judges of the Bila Tserkva City District Court of the Kiev Region to comply with the requirements of Article 186 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding the terms of consideration of petitions for the application of a preventive measure, accused of committing especially grave violent crimes against participants in the Revolution of Dignity on August 7, 2021, may be released from custody,” the message says.
We are talking about two members of a criminal organization who are accused of unlawful abduction on January 21, 2014 from the premises of the Alexandrovskaya Clinical Hospital in Kiev, protestors Igor Lutsenko and Yury Verbitsky, as well as their torture and premeditated murder of Yury Verbitsky. (part 1 of article 255, clause 3, 12 part 2 of article 115, part 2 of article 127 and part 3 of article 146, article 340 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The preparatory court hearing in this case, scheduled for July 9, did not take place due to the absence of the defendants’ defenders, while the prosecutor’s petition for attracting lawyers from the Free Legal Aid Center was declared premature by the court.
The prosecutor immediately sent a petition to the court to apply a preventive measure to the accused in the form of detention.
“Despite the fact that Article 186 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine provides for an urgent consideration of such requests, but no later than 72 hours, the next court session was scheduled by the court only for July 21, 2021,” the law enforcement officers clarify.
It is noted that on July 21, 2021, the panel of judges, without considering this petition, instead made a decision, which, despite the existence of the decision of the Kiev Court of Appeal on the determination of jurisdiction in this criminal proceeding for the Belotserkovsky District Court and the prohibition of disputes on jurisdiction established by the Criminal Procedure Code courts, sent the criminal proceedings to the Kiev Court of Appeal for transfer to another court.
“In fact, the case was sent to the Kiev Court of Appeal only on July 26, 2021,” the UCP reports.
Prosecutors emphasize that the decision of the Kiev Court of Appeal of August 4, 2021 stated the groundlessness of the issue of changing the jurisdiction raised by the Belotserkovsky City Court and the case was returned to the said court to continue the trial.
“On August 5 and 6, 2021, court hearings were scheduled for the presiding judge, which did not take place due to the leave of two members of the collegium who refused to withdraw from vacation. In this regard, and taking into account the fact that the term of detention of the accused in custody expires on August 7, 2021, the prosecutor and representatives of the victims filed a petition for an additional auto section to replace the absent judges in the manner prescribed by law, to whom an official response from the court has not yet been received, ”the prosecutor’s office said.
It is clarified that the next date of the hearing has not yet been determined.
“Opportunities for the procedural response of prosecutors, which could prevent the above negative consequences, are currently exhausted,” the UCP notes.
They also noticed that the accused were already on the wanted list, and one of them was hiding from the investigation for 6 years with the help of forged documents.
Another accused, even in custody, tried to influence another person who is accused of complicity in the abduction and torture of the victims.
“Taking into account the above, the Office of the Attorney General calls for strict compliance with the requirements of criminal procedural legislation, in particular, the imperatively defined deadlines for the performance of procedural actions,” the Attorney General’s Office summarizes.
They add that 16 persons have already been brought to criminal responsibility for committing crimes incriminated by the accused, with respect to 7 of them cases are being considered by the courts, including 2 in absentia, 9 people have been put on the wanted list, one person has been sentenced to 9 years in prison.
We will remind the former commander of the operational company of the special police battalion Berkut of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region reported suspicion of organization illegal obstruction of protests on February 18, 2014 in Kiev.
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