- Title: Ousted Ukrainian president gives video-link testimony
- Date: 28th November 2016
- Summary: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA (NOVEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF COURT IN ROSTOV-ON-DON CLOSE OF LETTERING ON COURT BUILDING POLICE OUTSIDE COURT BUILDING SECURITY AND VEHICLE EXILED FORMER PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, VIKTOR YANUKOVICH, INSIDE COURT BEING SHOWN ON MONITOR MEDIA YANUKOVICH LISTENING PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PHOTO REPORTERS TYPING (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) EXILED FORMER PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, VIKTOR YANUKOVICH, SAYING: "I wish, Your Honour, for this evidence to be taken into consideration during the court session. (This evidence) is substantial to establishing the truth about those tragic events in our country." KIEV, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) PANEL OF JUDGES IN COURT ROOM COURT OFFICER AND DEFENDANTS IN COURT CAGE VARIOUS OF FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, VIKTOR YANUKOVICH, SEEN ON TV SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL, YURIY LUTSENKO, SAYING: "I want to remind citizen - Yanukovich Viktor Fedorovych - that the suspicion (document) is being handed over to the lawyer of citizen Yanukovich by representatives of the military prosecutor's office. At the same time, I inform you, Viktor Fedorovych that you as a suspect of treason enjoy the rights prescribed by the Constitution and the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine." DEFENDANTS IN COURT CAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR GENERAL, YURIY LUTSENKO, SAYING: "As a Ukrainian, I accuse Yanukovich because he has opened the door to an aggressive war against our country, of destroying the sovereignty of the very country to which he had taken an oath on the constitution." REPRESENTATIVES OF MILITARY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE PRESENTING YANUKOVICH'S LAWYERS WITH CHARGE SHEET VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (Ukrainian): "THE CRIMINAL MUST BE JAILED" REFERRING TO YANUKOVICH MAN HOLDING POSTER READING (Ukrainian): 'I SURVIVED. I DEMAND FOR THE CRIMINAL TO BE JAILED' (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) REPRESENTATIVE OF GROUP UNITING THOSE WOUNDED DURING MAIDAN UPRISING, PAVLO KUCHER, SAYING: "Our main demand is to put Yanukovich in the jail-bunk and that he must testify as the main defendant. Lawyers and the prosecutor general's office must take all necessary steps for this to happen. The fact that at first he testifies as a witness and then he will probably testify as a defendant is unacceptable, in our view." POSTER READING (Ukrainian): 'I SURVIVED. I DEMAND FOR THE CRIMINAL TO BE JAILED' VARIOUS OF RELATIVES OF PROTESTERS WHO WERE KILLED AND WOUNDED DURING MAIDAN UPRISING 2013-2014 RALLYING
- Embargoed: 13th December 2016 13:22
- Keywords: Viktor Yanukovich Ukraine court Heavenly Hundred Kiev uprising interrogation testimony Yuriy Lutsenko
- Location: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA / KIEV, UKRAINE
- City: ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA / KIEV, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ACXMIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A Ukrainian court on Monday (November 28) questioned exiled former president Viktor Yanukovich as a witness over the killing of demonstrators during the Maidan street revolt of 2013/2014.
The court was due to cross-examine Yanukovich via video link last week over the fatal shooting by police officers of protesters, but demonstrators prevented the defendants from being transported to the courthouse from jail, resulting in a delay.
Giving evidence from a court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Yanukovich called for three thick volumes to be considered during the hearing which he said contained evidence of what really happened during the uprising.
It was the first time Yanukovich was interrogated by a Ukrainian court about the deaths on Maidan when he was president that was part of an unrest that culminated in him fleeing to Russia.
Ukrainian General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko said Yanukovich is himself being investigated on suspicion of committing treason.
"I want to remind citizen - Yanukovich Viktor Fedorovych - that the suspicion (document) is being handed over to the lawyer of citizen Yanukovich by representatives of the military prosecutor's office. At the same time, I inform you, Viktor Fedorovych, that you as a suspect of treason enjoy the rights prescribed by the Constitution and the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine," Lutsenko said during the court hearing.
"As a Ukrainian, I accuse Yanukovich because he has opened the door to an aggressive war against our country, of destroying the sovereignty of the very country to which he had taken an oath on the constitution," he added.
The current trial is of five "Berkut" riot police accused of carrying out the shooting. They have pleaded not guilty.
But Yanukovich's role as a witness in the trial of the five riot police officers, rather than standing accused himself, has angered many in Ukraine.
A small crowd of protesters, including those wounded on Maidan and the relatives of those killed, rallied outside the court in Kiev, chanting 'the criminal must be jailed'.
Pavlo Kucher, from a group that unites victims of the Maidan shootings, said demonstrators wanted to see Yanukovich behind bars.
"Our main demand is to put Yanukovich in the jail-bunk and that he must testify as the main defendant. Lawyers and the prosecutor general's office must take all necessary steps for this to happen. The fact that at first he testifies as a witness and then he will probably testify as a defendant is unacceptable, in our view," Kucher told Reuters.
Yanukovich escaped Kiev in the final days of the uprising, which installed a pro-European leadership and lit the fuse for Moscow's annexation of Crimea and a separatist conflict in the mainly Russian-speaking east.
More than 100 demonstrators were killed in the three months of street protests in Kiev's Maidan square - 48 allegedly gunned down by police snipers who Ukrainian authorities say received direct orders from Moscow-backed Yanukovich.
Three years on from the start of the protests, nobody has yet been held accountable for the deaths - an additional pressure on the Ukrainian authorities' public approval ratings, which have been driven down by the patchiness of efforts to root out corruption and improve the economy.
Moscow says the 2013/14 uprising was orchestrated by the West and questions the legitimacy of the post-Yanukovich leadership in Kiev. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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