A court hearing in the high-profile Gongadze-Podolsky case began almost two hours later than scheduled, on February 7, at the High Specialized Court on Civil and Criminal Cases, in Kyiv. Most likely, this was due to judicial reform, and the new Law of Ukraine “On the Judicial System and Status of Judges.” This law states that such high, specialized courts are to be disbanded, and that the Supreme Court is to be rebuilt, as the only court of cassation. The defense said, during the court hearing, that the High Specialized Court had been known for showing a poor performance, for quite some time.
The long-awaited court hearing lasted exactly 15 minutes, as Natalia Marchuk, Chairperson of the Panel of Judges, listed the reasons for which the hearing had to be adjourned until 10 a.m., April 19:
“We do not have the quorum, and this does not allow us to carry out our duty properly. Justice Tetiana Shyroian is absent, for valid reasons. Her absence is temporary, and this does not allow us to make a replacement. One of the members of the Panel, Justice Stanislav Mishchenko, has resigned, so a replacement was in order. He is now replaced by Justice Pavlovska. We need time to get prepared [for hearing this case]. Claimant Oleksii Podolsky’s defense counsel, Tetiana Kostina, still has no clearance for dealing with state secrets. This is another reason why we can’t hear this case at this stage.
“We also have a response from the Pechersk District Court, with regard to the missing 118th volume in the [Gongadze-Podolsky] case. It reads that the volume in question was forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine [GPU]. Now we have to decide whether we should start looking for the missing volume.
“Also, we have been corresponding with the GPU, for the past three months, concerning breaches of procedures in the case of Pukach: namely his place of custody [he is currently at the penal colony of Chortkiv in Ternopil oblast, meant for ordinary convicts, not ex-law-enforcement officers. – Ed.]. GPU says he is in solitary confinement; that his living conditions are adequate; that there is no threat to his life, and no reasons for entering data into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigation [Ukr. abbrev., ERDR] and launching an investigation.
“For the reasons stated above, this hearing is adjourned until 10 a.m. April 19.”
Justice Marchuk also asked Myroslava Gongadze’s defense counsel, Valentyna Telychenko, about her client’s forwarding address, considering that the one they had in the United States kept sending the documents back. She replied that she could send the documents to her client.
It was then claimant Oleksii Podolsky took the floor: “The point is that Valentyna Telychenko has no right to defend Myroslava Gongadze, because she has testified in this case; there as a GPU ruling reading that she has no right to act as one, and this ruling remains valid. There is no need to make any decisions, only to let Myroslava Gongadze know that she needs to send her lawyer.”
Justice Natalia Marchuk replied that Myroslava Gongadze had notified them that she did not intend to replace her defense counsel.
Oleksii Podolsky believes that the hearing was adjourned for political reasons, too: “This process has been haggled over on the highest political level. The so-called painful compromises on the part of Viktor Pinchuk, and his promotion campaign on Russia’s channels as a Ukrainian presidential candidate are part of a game. Remember when Russia threatened Mr. Poroshenko with Viktor Pinchuk as the next president? Or when Viktor Yanukovych was threatened with Viktor Medvedchuk? When it was like the proverbial dog in the manger, especially when he [Medvedchuk] stepped down a month after Viktor Yanukovych had declared he would support European integration. Viktor Yanukovych read the message, loud and clear, and made a U-turn.
“Now, we are witness to a similar situation. Russia wants President Poroshenko to honor the Minsk agreements, while our fifth column, the Opposition Bloc, is supporting Viktor Pinchuk, saying, ‘look but don’t touch,’ after the SBU’s statement to the effect that the oligarch’s statements will be verified.
“President Poroshenko responded by ordering to protract the Kuchma case, in order to keep some of the Kuchmas and members of the Party of Regions on a short leash. In fact, the Kuchma-Pukach case has been put off, until March 31.”
Justice Natalia Marchuk told The Day, before leaving the courtroom: “We don’t know who will replace us. Under the law, the High Specialized Court is to be disbanded after March 31, with all judges losing their powers. They will have to be replaced, and the new ones will have to spend at least six months, familiarizing themselves with the case.”
