Illia Kyva: "Protraction of Avakov's backpacks case is an element of the pressure on defendant"

Delaying the hearing of the "Avakov's backpacks" lawsuit should be stopped, Head of the Socialist Party of Ukraine (SPU) Illia Kyva has said on Espresso TV, the press service of the SPU informing  on the official website of the party.

"If there are guilty people, arrive at the verdict and announce the sentence. Statements of [Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem] Sytnyk and postponement of court hearings - this chewing gum cannot be chewed endlessly. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and for the minister are facing reputational losses. I do not protect anyone and do not try to bleach anyone. If you are guilty, go to prison, if you are innocent, the court must render an appropriate verdict," he said.

Kyva named absurd statements of Sytnyk that one of the experts involved by the NABU to investigate the case, is under the pressure.

"I would advise Sytnyk to think first, and then talk. What the pressure can be on the expert, if he has already conducted the examination and its results are lodged with the court. Would the expert rewrite the completed expertise?" the leader of the SPU said.

The politician called the delayed hearing of the case in court an element of the pressure on the defendant.

"Imagine that you are the accused, not "guilty", but the accused. You cannot normally live in a society with this status. This cannot last forever. Delaying the case is an element of manipulation. This is the pressure on a person. It is necessary either to establish the guilt or to acquit," Kyva said.