On September 13, the panel of judges of the HACC AC once again postponed considering the complaint of the defense counsel of Dmytro Sennychenko, former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine.
This is the fourth hearing that has not been held since June 6 of this year. Among the reasons for such a postponement are, among others, actions that have signs of procedural abuse by the defense counsel of Sennychenko.
Thus, during the hearings, it was reported that an attorney from the free legal aid system had filed a complaint against the May 7 decision of the investigating judge of the HACC, which imposed an interim measure on Sennychenko in the form of arrest in absentia.
At the hearing on June 6, an attorney from the free legal aid system announced that his appointment order in this case had been revoked. This was because Sennychenko allegedly hired other attorneys. However, the defense counsels engaged by Sennychenko do not appear at the hearings, so the judges are forced to postpone them and engage attorneys from the free legal aid system.
Today, at the hearing, the prosecutor informed that yesterday, Sennychenko got a new defense attorney from the system, and she did not attend the hearing either. Instead, the attorney filed a motion to postpone it, as she did not have enough time to review the case materials.
Thus, the consideration of the case is stalled. The court engages attorneys from the free legal aid system, but even they cannot perform their functions, in particular, because Sennychenko engages his defense counsels. However, they fail to attend the hearing and provide legal assistance.
Interestingly, the decisions in this case are classified, although the proceedings were conducted openly. The next hearing is scheduled for September 19.
Dmytro Sennychenko is suspected of establishing a criminal organization that aimed to gain control over the most important objects under the SPFU management.