At the first meeting of Obolonsky district court of Kyiv to consider criminal proceedings against former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on June 26 it was planned to hear the indictment and the order of investigating the evidence. However, this meeting lasted about half an hour and was postponed to June 29. The reason for this became disputes over the defense and charges of applying a special judicial procedure.

Prosecutor of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko demanded an absentee conviction of Yanukovych on charges of high treason. He noted that the ex-president did not appear again in court and did not take advantage of the offer to participate in the court sessions in the videoconference mode. "The trial can be carried out in the absence of the accused, as he hides from the investigation for more than 6 months and is outside the country, and also declared an interstate search," said Kravchenko.

This is categorically disagreed with Yanukovych's lawyer Vitaly Serdyuk. He believes that his client did not appear only for the first consideration of the case on the merits. And by law for a meeting in absentia, at least two failures to appear in court.

Serdyuk denied prosecutors' accusations that Viktor Yanukovych does not want to take part in the trial. "He wants to participate in the hearing remotely, if the court sends an official request to the Ministry of Justice of Russia for legal assistance," said Serdyuk. This claim was repeatedly raised by the lawyer before, but the court refused him, and on June 22, once again summoned Yanukovych to hear criminal proceedings against him through the official newspaper of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, "Uryadovy Courier".

Prosecutor Kravchenko during a briefing for journalists recalled that the court three times allowed Yanukovych to go to a videoconference through a secure judicial system of communication or in another way convenient for him.

"During the pre-trial investigation, summons was sent, the accused was summoned 5 times. Five more times he was summoned during the judicial proceedings. But we see that he does not want to participate in the court and all these statements - his and his lawyers - are only aimed at delaying the trial, "the prosecutor is convinced.

In response, lawyer Serdyuk said that Yanukovych intends to participate in court sessions, but only if the European Convention on International Legal Assistance. According to the lawyer, according to the convention, Kiev must turn to Russia with a request for such assistance and the organization of a video conference by Yanukovych from the premises of the Rostov court, in the place of his official residence.

However, the prosecutor Kravchenko recalled that the Obolonsky court twice denied Yanukovych in meeting this requirement. "Yanukovych is accused of crimes, where he is an accomplice of representatives of the Russian government in the implementation of an aggressive war against Ukraine. And the court decided that it is impossible to send a request to the aggressor country that is waging war against our state, "Kravchenko said..

He also denied the statements of Yanukovych's defense that the prosecutor's office is seeking to complete the trial of Yanukovych's case on the Independence Day of Ukraine on August 24.

The prosecutor commented on the lawyers' statements that the very fact of Yanukovych's accusation of high treason was illegal, since at that time he was already dismissed by the Verkhovna Rada from the presidential post. "The indictment states that Yanukovich is accused of high treason, not Yanukovych," said Ruslan Kravchenko.

DW.