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MP Kuzminykh again evades court, abusing his rights
Judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court were again forced to postpone the hearing in the case of Servant of the People MP Serhii Kuzminykh, this time due to his lawyers’ “unreadiness” to defend him.
At the previous hearing Kuzminykh once again used a court-appointed attorney. However, that attorney allegedly “did not have time to familiarize himself with the case materials,” so he is “not ready” to defend Kuzminykh today.
Another attorney under contract was also “not ready,” claiming he hadn’t had time to review the case materials because the contract was signed only today.
❗️The court found such actions by the defense to be an abuse of their rights against the backdrop of approaching statutes of limitations. If the proceedings follow the same pattern as before, Kuzminykh will easily avoid liability.
The case is being heard by a panel of judges Olga Salandiak, Kateryna Shyroka, and Nataliia Oliinyk. The next hearing will take place only in a week, 21 September.
And the statute of limitations in this case expires in January 2027. During that time the appeal at the HACC must also consider the case.
We have repeatedly written that judges often have to postpone hearings because Kuzminykh is undergoing medical treatment, participating in Verkhovna Rada sessions, and traveling on business trips.
Additionally, there have been multiple instances when hearings were disrupted due to the absence of his defense attorneys.
Today Kuzminykh’s questioning was supposed to begin, followed by debates and a last statement, so the verdict is still far off. That is, unless the HACC soon moves to continuous consideration of this case.
Recall that, according to the prosecution’s version, the “Servant of the People” Kuzminykh allegedly promised to help secure contracts between private companies and a hospital in Zhytomyr region for 558 thousand UAH.
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