Defendant in case on arson in gambling establishment in Dnipropetrovsk claims political factors behind incident
Kyiv, October 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The defendant in a case of arson at the Metro-Jackpot slot machine hall in Dnipropetrovsk in May 2009 insists that the reason for the incident was arson by unknown people and claimed there was a hidden political motive to the incident.
"We insist that the investigation study the political side of this case…" Kostiantyn Ivanov, the director general of branches of Poryv LLC and a Metro-Jackpot gambling club in Dnipropetrovsk, who is the main defendant in the case on arson of gambling halls of Metro Jackpot, said at a press conference in Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
He noted that the theory that the incident was motivated by conflict in the gambling business was immediately disproved, as there are almost no competitors on this market in Dnipropetrovsk.
Lawyer of Ivanov, Oleksandr Soinikov, in turn, said that his client, who is accused of violating fire safety rules and official negligence, had been under arrest from May 7, 2009 through May 14, 2010. The defense said such accusations were unreasonable, as there was no evidence of the above-mentioned violations.
Soinikov also noted that the court had returned the criminal case for additional investigation.
As reported, a fire broke out in a slot machine hall situated on the ground floor of five-floor residential building in Dnipropetrovsk in the early hours of Thursday, May 7. Nine people, including three employees of the hall, were killed and 11 others were injured. On the same day, a criminal case under Article 270 of the Criminal Code (infringement of fire safety regulations, resulting in the deaths of people) was opened.
On May 12, head of the regional department of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry in Dnipropetrovsk, Anatoliy Naumenko, told the press that during the investigation it was established that a highly inflammable material caused the fire.