Kyiv Court of Appeals upholds verdict to Pavlychenko father and son: life imprisonment and 13 years in jail respectively
Kyiv Court of Appeals has upheld the verdict of Holosiyivsky District Court on Dmytro and Serhiy Pavlychenko, who were accused of killing Kyiv Shevchenkivsky District Court judge Serhiy Zubkov.
The court passed decision on Thursday, as Svoboda reported on its Web site.
At the sitting today the sides held a debate. Dmytro Pavlychenko said that the killed judge took many decisions against the building companies with serious capital.
"I had no reason to kill Zubkov, as I gained no material benefit from this and couldn't receive any," he said. His son Serhiy refused to participate in the debates.
The state prosecution stressed that all the witnesses gave evidence without pressure from the prosecutor's office, and all of the evidence is authentic.
In his closing speech Pavlychenko senior said that he doesn't consider himself guilty. His son refused to deliver a closing speech. After this the judges announced the verdict. Its full text will be read on August 7 at 1330.
After the court sitting, the lawyers of Dmytro and Serhiy Pavlychenko reported that they are going to submit a cassation on the decision of the Kyiv Court of Appeals to the High Specialized Court of Ukraine for Civil and Criminal Cases.
Fans of Kyiv Dynamo, MPs from Svoboda union Andriy Ilyenko, Eduard Leonov and Yuriy Levchenko came to support Pavlychenko's family.
As reported, businessman Dmytro Pavlychenko and his son Serhiy were found guilty of killing Kyiv Shevchenkivsky District Court Judge Serhiy Zubkov in the spring of 2011. Dmytro Pavlychenko was sentenced to life imprisonment and Serhiy Pavlychenko to thirteen years in prison.
On January 14, 2013 the panel of judges at Kyiv Court of Appeals ruled to hold a partial trial investigation into the case as part of consideration of Pavlychenkos' appeal against the verdict.
The two Pavlychenkos were members of the fan club of FC Dynamo Kyiv. Fans of various football clubs, who disagreed with the verdict, held rallies calling for their release.
