Court sentences Yanukovych to 13 years in prison for high treason

Kyiv's Obolonsky District Court has found former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych guilty in a high treason case and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

Presiding Judge Vladyslav Deviatko read out the verdict at a court session on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent said.

"Given cumulative criminal offenses, by way of merging milder punishment into a heavier one, [the court] imposes the final punishment on Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych in the form of 13 years of imprisonment. Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych has been found not guilty and acquitted under charges brought according to Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine due to the lack of evidence that the defendant committed a criminal offense," the judge said.

Deviatko said that the period of serving a prison term would begin from the time of the detention of the ex-president.

"[The court rules] to collect UAH 98,561.20 from Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych in favor of the state for conducting forensic analysis. The measures to ensure criminal proceedings, the arrest on property imposed as part of this criminal proceeding have been left unchanged," he added.

During the announcement of the sentence, the presiding judge noted that after examining all the evidence of the charges, "the court established its legitimacy."

Deviatko also appealed to the defense team and noted that Yanukovych "has repeatedly been given the opportunity to stand trial in court, but he did not use it."

During the announcement of the text of the verdict, judges, in particular, read out the testimonies of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy, Ukrainian Navy Commander Ihor Voronchenko, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Turchynov, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko, Chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov, former Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anatoliy Mohyliov, and others.

In general, the reading of the verdict lasted about eight hours. This was the 90th court session in the high treason case of ex-president Viktor Yanukovych. On May 4, 2017, the Obolonsky District Court of Kyiv began the consideration of the case on charges brought against Yanukovych for committing crimes provided for in Part 1 of Article 111 (high treason), Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 110 (aiding in intentional actions committed to change the boundaries of the territory and the state border of Ukraine), and Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 437 (aiding in waging an aggressive war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

One of the main proofs in the case is a letter from Yanukovych to Russian President Vladimir Putin with the request to use Russian troops in Ukraine.

During litigation in this case Yanukovych has repeatedly been invited to court for the last statement, but did not participate in the trial via a videoconference.

Therefore, the court on December 5 refused to reschedule the meeting and retired to the deliberation room to make a final decision in the case.