Kyiv Pechersk District Court postponed its hearing of the case of Yaroslav Prytulenko, the only one left of the nine Bankova detainees of December 1.
The court session lasted less than 5 minutes. Prytulenko was not taken to the court.
The General Prosecutor’s Office representatives did not appear. No national deputies were there, but several diplomats were present.
Prytulenko’s lawyers believed that the case should have been heard on Friday, but judge Khrystyna Hladun decided to postpone the proceedings to 5 p.m. on January 8.
According to human rights lawyers, the government is ignoring the constitutionally adopted law “On the elimination of negative impacts and prevent prosecution and punishment of persons on the events that took place during peaceful meetings.” This law was signed by President Yanukovych on December 23, 2013.
According to this document, Prytulenko’s and other protesters’ acts should be decriminalized.
The law also mandated that all previously opened criminal cases against activists be closed within 10 days (until January 4).
As such, explained Vitaliy Kasko, Prytulenko’s trial lawyer, January 3 is, in fact, the last time when this law can be applied.
Original in Ukrainian on the Ukrainska Pravda website: http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/01/3/7008968/
