Ukraine's High Specialized Court for civil and criminal cases has turned down a motion by the defense team of disgraced ex President Viktor Yanukovych to throw out state treason charges against Ukraine's former ruler.

"The High Specialized Court has turned down the request by lawyers for Yanukovych to throw out the criminal case against the former president," PGO spokeswoman Larysa Sarhan said on her Facebook page.

She added that Yanukovych's lawyers earlier complained to the court about so-called meddling in the automated system for selecting judges to hear cases.

Yanukovych on November 28, 2016 was named a suspect in a criminal case pursuant to Part 1 of Article 111 (state treason), Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 110 (abetting deliberate acts committed with the aim of changing Ukrainian state borders in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine) and Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 437 (abetting military aggression against Ukraine) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.