Yanukovych questioning rescheduled for November 28
The questioning of Ukraine's ex-president Viktor Yanukovych in televised linkup mode in the Rostov region's court has been rescheduled for November 28 because the accused have failed to arrive at the building of the Ukrainian court, an Interfax correspondent has reported.
Up to 100 activists of the Right Sector movement on Friday blocked the exit to the Lukyanivske detention facility in Kyiv, from where the former members of the special task unit Berkut were expected to be taken to attend a court hearing on the case involving the killings of Euromaidan activists. Lukyanivske detention facility officials tried to reason with the protesters, but to no avail.
The protesters said their actions were aimed at preventing the release of the Berkut officials.
"Our purpose is to prevent them from walking free. We intend to achieve that goal at any cost," Right Sector representative Artyom Skoropadsky told reporters.
The Sviatoshyn District Court judge rescheduled the hearing. "After consultations, the court decided to schedule this court hearing, which is conducted on the basis of a request for international assistance, for 1:00 p.m. Kyiv time on November 28, 2016, or 2:00 p.m. Moscow time," the judge said.
The presiding judge at the Sviatoshynsky district court said he would take all necessary measures to ensure that the hearing scheduled for November 28 could take place, without a repetition of events delaying the hearings on Friday.
Ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, in turn, said he wants the truth to be established in this case and assured the court he would "definitely appear" at the hearing scheduled for 13:00 on November 28.
"Your honors, I would like, first and foremost, to say that I want to testify. This is my personal decision. I want the truth to be established in this affair and will definitely appear," Yanukovych said.
Following Yanukovych's remarks, the hearing in the Sviatoshynsky district court was adjourned.
The Rostov region's court organized a televised linkup for the questioning of Viktor Yanukovych by a Kyiv district court. The questioning of the witnesses in the criminal case was scheduled for November 25 by agreement with the Kyiv Sviatoshynsky District Court.
The Sviatoshynsky District Court in Kyiv earlier decided to question Yanukovych and Stanislav Shuliak, former commander of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry Interior Troops, as witnesses in the case of five former members of the special task force unit Berkut in a televised linkup mode on November 25.
The Kyiv court has received a notice from the Rostov region's court on the possibility of the questioning being conducted in televised linkup mode.