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Of two arrests in Yanukovych’s absence, one canceled
The defense of the former fugitive president won an appeal and obtained the reversal of the decision on one of his absent arrests.
The Kiev Court of Appeal on Monday, November 16, overturned the decision on the arrest in the absence of Viktor Yanukovych. This is reported by the Ґrati newspaper.
It is noted that the decision refers to the case of the events that occurred on the Maidan from February 18 to 20, 2014, when protesters were fired upon.
At the hearings, the former president’s lawyer, Alexander Goroshinsky, asked to take note of the decision to arrest in absentia, which was made on May 12, 2020 by the Kiev Pechersk District Court. Then the court arrested Yanukovych, referring to article 193 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It says that a person can be arrested in his absence if he is on the international wanted list.
In the appellate court session, lawyer Goroshinsky insisted that this rule cannot be applied to his client, since his client is only on the national wanted list, but not on the international one. Ukraine’s prosecution has repeatedly asked Interpol to add Yanukovych to its database, but the international bureau refused, as it considers the cases against the fourth president to be political persecution.
The defense insisted that there was no reason for Yanukovych’s arrest in absentia. The lawyers said that Yanukovych received asylum in Russia, as it is not safe for him to be in Ukraine, but he is ready to participate in investigative actions remotely through the mediation of Russian law enforcement officers.
In response, prosecutors Alexei Donskoy and Denis Ivanov called for the defense’s complaints to be dismissed and for the decision on detention in absentia to be left in effect. They insisted that Yanukovych was on the international wanted list. According to prosecutors, the decision on such a search was made by a Ukrainian investigator, and for an international search it is not necessary for Interpol to place the suspect on its base.
The Collegium, headed by Judge Olga Yurdyga, listened to the parties and partially satisfied the complaints of the lawyers. The judges reversed the decision of the Pechersk court on the arrest in absentia and decided that Yanukovych’s restraint measure should be reviewed again.
We will recall, on May 12, that the Kiev Pechersky District Court repeatedly arrested former President Viktor Yanukovych in absentia, this time in the case of the executions on the Maidan from February 18 to 20, 2014. Before that, the Pechersk court arrested the former president in absentia in the usurpation of power case.
As you know, on January 24, 2019, the court found Yanukovych guilty in the treason case and sentenced him in absentia to 13 years in prison. The judges did not support all the charges.
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