Kyiv court refuses to consider appeal of Yanukovych's defense - lawyer
KYIV. Aug 11 (Interfax) - A Kyiv appeal court has refused to consider the appeal request of the defense of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych regarding the decision of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office on pretrial investigation in absentia.
"The case has not been considered. The court de facto refused the consideration having cited that this decision is not [eligible to be] appealed," Yanukovych's lawyer Vitaly Serdyuk told reporters.
The procedure of trying in absentia six former high-level Ukrainian officials, including Yanukovych, was started on July 28. Thus, the court started the procedure of their prosecution in absentia. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office said earlier it did not receive confirmation of the location of Yanukovych either from him or from Russian representatives.
Yanukovych is a suspect in a number of criminal proceedings and was placed on the wanted list due to hiding from investigators. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has summoned Yanukovych on August 11 in order to carry out investigative and procedural actions. At the same time, the defense of the former president said it accorded with investigative authorities a way to hold the questioning via a video conference.
It is impossible to question Yanukovych without the assistance of the Russian law enforcement authorities, and they do not react to Ukrainian requests, head of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office department for special investigations Serhiy Horbatyuk said on Tuesday.
