Yanukovych's defense demanded that Zelensky stop political persecution RIA Novosti reports.
“We are forced to appeal to President Zelensky with a demand to end political persecution, bring the proceedings in accordance with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights, and implement guarantees of access to justice , the right to defense, “Serdyuk said.
He claims that the Supreme Court, when considering the appeal against the treason sentence, gave the defense half an hour to speak.
” Can such a process be objective ? The task is to rewrite history, to shift responsibility for the loss of Crimea from the real perpetrators to the shoulders of Viktor Yanukovych, ”Serdyuk noted.
In the winter of 2013-2014, mass protests called Euromaidan took place in Ukraine. They ended with the overthrow of Yanukovych, who fled to Russia. During the clashes between the protesters and the security forces, more than 100 people were killed.
Several cases were brought against Yanukovych in absentia. In 2019, a court in Kiev sentenced him to 13 years in prison in a high treason case. In November 2021, the investigation of the case against Yanukovych on the dispersal of Euromaidan was completed. Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova said that the ex-president and a number of his former officials face life imprisonment.