Today, the first preparatory court hearing has been held in the case of Yanukovych-era Justice Minister Olena Lukash, where Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, is also involved.
Almost all the 12 accused were present; only Hanna Sapelnykova did not come to the court hearing, who had allegedly received UAH 680,000 in this scheme for the analysis of legislation in the field of civil aviation.
For unclear reasons, the HACC did not send a subpoena to Sapelnykova, but asked to provide her with information about the court hearing through the lawyer. At the same time, the latter indicated during the hearing that he had had no contact with the client since March 2022.
It is expected that the key person involved — the odious Olena Lukash, ex-minister of justice of the times of Yanukovych — drew much attention during the first hearing. The presiding judge reprimanded her for first refusing to tell the court her identifying data, and then refusing to explain to the court her rights as an accused.
All because Lukash considers her subpoena to the courtroom erroneous. In her opinion, she is not an accused or suspect in this case, and identified her status as follows: “a person who is present” and “a person who does not have the status of a suspect or accused.”
This statement was voiced in response to almost every appeal of the presiding judge to her. Finally, to explain her position, she noted that there were a number of valid court decisions: the decision of the Pechersk District Court andthe decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeal, which abolished suspicions to her, changed in 2019; therefore, she is not a suspect or accused in this process.
By the way, these decisions were adopted by the courts outside their jurisdiction, since such motions and appeals should have been heard by the HACC. This was subsequently confirmed by the Appeals Chamber of the Anti-Corruption Court.
Lukash appeared at the hearing without a lawyer, which automatically would not allow the HACC panel of judges to continue hearing the case. Therefore, she was given time until October 4 to find a lawyer, otherwise the court would appoint them independently.
A similar situation was with the accused Kalmykov, who, according to prosecutors, obtained UAH 930,000 for his analysis of legislation in the field of trade and environmental protection. He appeared without lawyer Neupokoyevabecause, according to him, he had not seen her for 4 years. However, Kalmykov did not want to refuse her “defense” during the hearing, so the court set him the same deadline as Lukash for finding a lawyer.
In addition to these incidents, Presiding Judge Kravchuk and member of the panel Kruk reported on the facts of acquaintance with some of the accused. In particular, Kruk indicated that, by virtue of his previous position as Deputy Head of the Anti-Corruption Court, he crossed paths with the accused Deputy Prime Minister Stefanishyna. However, at present, the judges of the panel do not have any relations with the accused that could affect the objectivity of the case, so there were no self-recusals or recusals on the part of the participants in the case.
Finally, the preparatory hearing was postponed, since the HACC Appeals Chamber will hear the defense’s motion to transfer this case from the HACC to another court.
The next hearing in this case is scheduled for October 4.
Lukash considers her subpoena to the courtroom erroneous. In her opinion, she is not an accused or suspect in this case, and identified her status as follows: “a person who is present” and “a person who does not have the status of a suspect or accused.”
