A judge of the Kyiv District Court of Odesa refused to recuse the judge in the case against the doctors that was fabrica...

A judge of the Kyiv District Court of Odesa refused to recuse the judge in the case against the doctors that was fabricated by former First Deputy Prosecutor General Vdovychenko

Today, 18 September, the defenders of Odrex clinic doctor Vitaliy Rusakov filed a challenge to Judge Viktor Chaplytsky due to doubts about his impartiality.

The grounds for the challenge were the connections of the head of the Kyiv Court of Odesa, Serhiy Chvankin, with the family of developer Adnan Kivan, whose death the doctors are accused of causing.

We have already reported on the circumstances that indicate these connections and the possible influence of Chvankin on the judge handling the case.

However, Judge Hennadiy Voytov of the same court denied the motion to recuse. So the case will continue to be heard by Chaplytsky, despite the circumstances presented by the defense that call the impartiality of the proceedings into question.

Recall that prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General accuse Odrex doctors Vitaliy Rusakov and Mariya Bielotserkivska of improper performance of professional duties, which, according to the prosecution's version, led to the death of Odesa developer, KADORR Group owner and Kyiv Post publisher Adnan Kivan.

But the prosecution does not provide a convincing answer to the main question: what specific actions by these doctors caused the patient's death.

Moreover, no oncologist was involved in the examination intended to determine the causes of Kivan’s death.

And this despite the fact that the patient was being treated for late-stage cancer. We have already highlighted these problems in our analysis of the case.

The prosecution of the doctors was personally undertaken by former First Deputy Prosecutor General Mariya Vdovychenko. She decided to change the team of prosecutors and also demanded that the Ministry of Health inspect the clinic and revoke its license.

At the Center for Civil Liberties these actions and the violations during the investigation are assessed as signs of the case being fabricated.

This is the same Vdovychenko whose apartment search during the recent "Carthage" operation turned up jewelry and expensive watches, including Rolexes.

According to a SAP prosecutor in court, the investigation believes these were gifts to her from a figure in the case, Office of the Prosecutor General official Serhiy Kropyva.