Kyiv’s Darnytsky district court has approved a motion of Valentyn Rybin, the lawyer for Officer Corps ex-head Volodymyr Ruban, on dismissing the panel of judges in the case involving ex-MP Nadiia Savchenko and Ruban, which has been assigned to the Kyiv appeals court.
“The Darnytsky district court has approved the motion to dismiss the judge panel and now the case against Savchenko and Ruban is returning again to the Kyiv appeals court!!!,” Rybin said on Facebook on April 11.
As reported, on March 29 Kyiv’s appeals court sent an indictment to the Supreme Court in the Savchenko-Ruban case to determine jurisdiction. But on April 3 the Supreme Court returned the indictment to the Kyiv appeals court.
On February 25, the Supreme Court ruled the case should be tried in Kyiv’s Solomiansky district court.
On March 26, a panel of judges at Solomiansky district court approved a motion from the defense to dismiss the panel of judges, after which the case was transferred to the Kyiv appeals court for selecting a different court to try the case.
As reported, Savchenko is suspected of committing criminal offenses under Part 1 of Article 109 (actions aimed at violently changing or overthrowing the constitutional order or seizing state power), Part 1 of Article 14, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 109 (actions aimed at forcibly changing or overthrowing the constitutional system or seizing state power), Part 1 of Article 14, Part 2 of Article 28, Article 112 (threatening on the life of a state or public figure), Part 1 of Article 14, Part 3 of Article 258 (terrorist act), Part 1 of Article 258-3 (the creation of a terrorist group or a terrorist organization), and Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal handling of weapons, military supplies or explosives) of Ukraine’s Criminal Code. She has been in custody since March 23, 2018.
Ruban was detained on March 8, 2018, at a checkpoint in Donbas with an arsenal of weapons, which were transported from Russia-occupied territory to an area controlled by Ukraine. On March 9, Kyiv’s Shevchenkivsky district court arrested him. Ruban is suspected of committing criminal offenses under Part 1 of Article 14, Part 3 of Article 258 (terrorist act), Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal handling of weapons, military supplies or explosives) of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
