Are the stalling attempts continuing? The defender of People's Deputy Kuzminykh, accused of bribery, has once again ignored the court hearing

The lawyer of the People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh, who is accused of bribery, once again ignored the court hearing. The MP asked to postpone the hearing, but in order to comply with reasonable deadlines for the consideration of the case, the judges decided to hear the prosecutor, writes UNN.

At the beginning of the meeting, it turned out that the defender of People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh sent a message to the court stating that he would not be there because he was involved in another criminal proceeding.

Once again, the defender gives preference to other procedural actions in this criminal proceeding 

The prosecutor noted that he was ready to attach written and material evidence in the case. However, due to the absence of a lawyer, he insisted on attaching only documents, in order to ensure the adversarial nature of the parties in the criminal proceedings.

Obviously, wanting to try to delay the trial once again, the MP Kuzminykh, who is accused of bribery, asked to postpone the meeting to another date. However, the judge allowed the prosecution to announce written evidence, with which the lawyer will be able to familiarize himself and provide his position on them.

After consulting on the spot, the court decided, taking into account the principle of reasonable terms of criminal proceedings, taking into account the type of evidence that the prosecutor offered us today to investigate, namely written documents, to hold today's court session in the absence of the defender Krasovsky Volodymyr Mykolayovych, in view of the circumstances reported by them, namely the independent choice in favor of another of his client 

Yes, during the meeting, the prosecutor provided the court with additional written evidence, in particular, regarding the conduct of covert investigative actions against Serhiy Kuzminykh, his driver and other persons involved in the criminal proceedings. 

Among other things, the court was provided with printouts from the correspondence of Serhiy Kuzminykh with his driver. In the messages, the MP gave instructions on where and how to pick up 558 thousand hryvnias, which, according to the investigation, is an illegal benefit, and where to bring them. 

The next hearing in the Kuzminykh case is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on June 9.

Let us remind you

Earlier, Serhiy Kuzminykh repeatedly ignored the meeting of the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court under the pretext of a business trip to Moldova in order to strengthen inter-parliamentary cooperation. As UNN explained in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the MP was not obliged to hand over foreign passports and notify the prosecution about leaving the country.

Former Deputy Prosecutor General, lawyer Oleksiy Baganets, in a comment to UNN, noted that the prosecution should ask the court to change Kuzminykh's preventive measure to detention due to his failure to fulfill procedural obligations.

Let's add

People's Deputy, head of the subcommittee on pharmacy and pharmaceutical activities of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Serhiy Kuzminykh, was exposed "red-handed" while receiving an illegal benefit of 558 thousand hryvnias. According to the investigation, he received funds for assisting in the signing of contracts between private companies and one of the hospitals in the Zhytomyr region for the supply of medical equipment. 

At the end of January 2022, NABU recorded the transfer of money and published a video about it. In it, a person with a voice similar to Kuzminykh promises his assistance and adds that he can resolve issues with all medical institutions in the region. 

On January 31, 2022, the then Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova signed a suspicion to him. 

Serhiy Kuzminykh was not detained due to "deputy immunity", but he ignored interrogations, which is why he was put on the wanted list. After several days of "hiding", the MP was still detained to select a preventive measure.

In May 2022, Kuzminykh, who, we remind you, is suspected of receiving more than half a million hryvnias in bribes, was chosen as a preventive measure in the form of a bail of 49 thousand 600 hryvnias. Of course, a bail was made for the people's choice.

In September 2022, the indictment in the case against Kuzminykh was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court for consideration on the merits. Currently, the stage of evidence examination is ongoing. During this time, the MP repeatedly ignored court hearings.