The courts have postponed the interrogation of ex-governor of Donetsk region Volodymyr Scherban, who is a witness on the criminal case on the murder of Ukrainian parliamentarian Yevhen Scherban, until March 4 due to the witness' illness.

Investigatory judge of Kyiv Pechersky District Court Hanna Medushevska announced this decision at a sitting at the Kyiv Court of Appeals.

"Due to the absence of the participants of the proceedings the court announced a break in the hearing until 1100 on March 4," the judge said.

At the beginning of the hearing, Medushevska said that on February 18 the witness asked the court to put off the hearing due to his illness.

At the same time, the judge stressed that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is a suspect in the case, was not taken to court due for unknown reasons despite the fact that she had been informed about the time and the venue of the hearing on February 16.

Medushevska also announced that on February 18 the ex-premier's defense lawyer Oleksandr Plakhotniuk motioned recusal of the judge. The court overruled the motion, as the judge cannot be disqualified at the current stage of the proceedings.

On February 18 in the evening, the press service of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine said that Tymoshenko would not be transported to Kyiv for the participation in the interrogation of a witness, as the interrogation scheduled for February 19 had been cancelled due to the illness of the witness.