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Yanukovich’s defense initiates criminal case over Ukrainian Prosecutor General

The defenders were accusing Lutsenko of forgery and encroachment on the right to defense committed by a group of persons in collusion

KIEV, December 17. /TASS/. Legal defense of the former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich has turned to the Office of the Prosecutor General with a demand to bring on a criminal case against Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko for the crime he has committed, lawyer Vitaly Serdyuk told TASS.

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Ukrainian prosecutor general summons Yanukovich for questioning on treason charge

"I confirm the filing of petitions," he said, adding that defenders were accusing Lutsenko of forgery and encroachment on the right to defense committed by a group of persons in collusion.

"Lutsenko and the prosecutors shoved a ruling through court on arresting our customer and stuffed the petition with the misleading information that Yanukovich was allegedly hiding away from court, although a full package of documents on the customer’s absence for a valid reason had been filed previously," Serdyuk said.

He cited the risks for the former President’s life in Ukraine as a valid excuse, adding that there could be no consequences under law if good cause was present.

"Still they concealed these things and miscarriage of justice took place as a result of it," Serdyuk said.

Apart from Lutsenko, the defenders also plan to bring on criminal charges for Ukraine’s Chief Military Prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko. They filed a similar petition with the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutorial Office.

On December 15, a court in Kiev issued permission to the Office of the Prosecutor General to arrest Yanukovich on charges of high treason. Vitaly Serdyuk said on the same day the defense would appeal the ruling in the courts of various instances up to the European Court for Human Rights.

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