PROSECUTORS IN THE SAVCHENKO CASE ARE HIDING EVIDENCE FROM THE DEFENSE ATTORNEYS

As reported during a briefing by Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, the pretrial investigation in the Svchenko case has been completed.

In accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, upon completion of the pretrial investigation, the prosecution is required to grant the defense access to all materials of the pretrial investigation and ensure that they can be copied.

However, despite the completion of the investigation and the requirements of the law, Nadiya Savchenko’s defense attorneys have not been granted access to the investigation materials. Specifically, on August 13, 2018, the investigator in this case selectively provided only a portion of the materials for review and stated that the remainder would be provided once the defense attorneys had reviewed the materials already provided, as this was the procedure determined by the investigators and the prosecutor.

However, this position is completely contrary to the requirements of the law, which stipulate the necessity of providing all materials, not just those selected by the investigator.

These circumstances indicate an attempt to conceal from the defense counsel certain evidence pointing to Savchenko’s innocence and the groundlessness of the charges against her, so that the defense counsel would have less time to work with such evidence.

In order to clarify the grounds for such abuses, the defense has already submitted a corresponding request to the prosecutor overseeing the proceedings.

These conclusions are also supported by the fact that the materials of the pretrial investigation—to which Nadiya Savchenko and her defense attorneys were allegedly granted access—were separated into a separate proceeding at the end of July 2018, that is, on the eve of the Prosecutor General’s briefing.

At the same time, the prosecutor decided independently which evidence to transfer to the new proceedings and which to leave in the old ones; therefore, it is unknown which materials remained in the old proceedings and whether the prosecutor’s office selected only those that are convenient for the prosecutors, and whether the prosecutors thereby concealed evidence of the provocation of the crime and of Nadiya Savchenko’s innocence in the old case, to which the defense is currently denied access?

The defense considers such abuses by the prosecution to be an attempt to interfere with the work of Nadiya Savchenko’s defense attorneys and to obstruct her right to a defense and a fair trial, numerous violations of which have already been committed by the prosecution in this case.