Ukraine's ex-interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko has said he is indignant that the Higher Specialized Court on Civil and Criminal Cases failed to give him an opportunity to make a final statement.
As a correspondent of Interfax-Ukraine reported, after the court announced that it was withdrawing to the deliberation room to make a decision on its appeal ruling, Lutsenko, loudly addressed the court saying: “Mr. Judge, what about my final statement? … This isn’t a court, it’s just a disgrace.”
According to the law, a cassation appeal hearing does not foresee the convicted person being allowed to make a final statement.