Attempt #2: The court in Poltava again failed to impose a measure of restraint on Liiev due to the prosecutor's absence

Attempt #2: The court in Poltava again failed to impose a measure of restraint on Liiev due to the prosecutor's absence

Kyiv  •  UNN

 • 141927 views

The Zhovtnevyi District Court of Poltava has postponed for the second time the consideration of the motion to arrest former Defense Ministry official Oleksandr Liev due to the absence of a prosecutor. Liev, who is suspected of supplying low-quality machine guns, denies all charges.

On Monday, the Zhovtnevyi District Court of Poltava failed to start considering a motion to impose a preventive measure on former Defense Ministry official Oleksandr Liev, as the prosecutor did not appear at the hearing for the second time in a row, UNN's correspondent reports from the courtroom.

Details

According to the version of the investigation, Oleksandr Liev is allegedly involved in the supply of low-quality machine guns to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The former official himself denies any allegations. The prosecutor's office requested that the most severe preventive measure be imposed on Liev in the form of detention and emphasized the urgency of the motion. The court was supposed to consider the "urgent" motion on Friday, January 17, but the hearing was postponed to Monday, January 20 due to the prosecutor's absence.

Today, as on Friday, Liev and his lawyers arrived at the hearing. However, the prosecutor again filed a motion to postpone the hearing due to his involvement in another case.

"The court should postpone the consideration of this motion, as it is impossible to consider it without the prosecutor. We propose January 22 at 13:15," the judge said.

After the court hearing, Oleksandr Liev denied the charges, and considers the prosecution's request for arrest unfair.

In this case, the behavior of the investigating body is incomprehensible, because a year ago they started this case, they have all the documents, they have been investigating this case for a year. How can I hide from the investigation when I have a stable job, a large family, impeccable procedural behavior, and despite all this, they demand my arrest. Moreover, they have repeatedly failed to appear at court hearings 

- he said.

In his turn, Liiev's lawyer Nazar Kulchytskyi emphasized that the charges under Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are absolutely groundless.

We believe that the only purpose for which this article was added here is to provide almost no alternative to delaying the consideration and keeping the case under the jurisdiction of the SBI and the PGO. Because as soon as this article is removed, the case will be under the jurisdiction of the NABU and will be considered by the HACC, which the prosecution does not want to allow, as they understand the groundlessness of the suspicion 

- Kulchytsky said.

In the courtroom, UNN journalist also asked the investigator for a comment, but he refused to comment.

Add

The State Bureau of Investigation has served a notice of suspicion to the former head of a Defense Ministry department and two officials of a state-owned enterprise for supplying 200 low-quality machine guns to the front. The media learned that the suspects are Oleksandr Liev, who served  as the director of the Defense Ministry's Department of Military and Technical Policy, and two officials of an arms import company.  UNN investigated the case and the content of the charges, who and what Liev is suspected of, see in.