(updated)
The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) has partially granted a request from Iryna Mudra, the former Presidential Office deputy head suspected in corruption schemes involving money laundering and raiding, to postpone the hearing: after the prosecutor’s remarks, the hearing will resume at 3:00 p.m. on Aug. 24.
The HACC made the decision after Mudra asked for the hearing on the motion for pretrial restraint against her to be postponed, citing worsening health and the need to properly prepare her defense.
Mudra made the request to postpone the hearing on Friday at the HACC session, which she is attending in person.
"Given recent events, a condition I was recently diagnosed with has worsened," she said, stressing that on Thursday she had "consciously declined hospitalization."
"I have no intention of avoiding or dragging out the hearing," the former official said.
Mudra added that she would do everything possible to assist the investigation and the court’s consideration of the motion, but asked for time given her health condition.
"The prosecutor will present his position, after which a recess will be announced. The time until 3:00 p.m. on Aug. 24 will be more than sufficient," the judge said.
At the start of the hearing, Mudra’s defense argued that National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office’s (SAPO) publication of video materials about the case on their platforms amounted to "creating a narrative of guilt" and violated the presumption of innocence.
