The 26th hearing took place at the Kyiv Court of Appeal in the case concerning the masterminds of the murder of Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk.
This was written on Facebook by the Handziuk family’s lawyer Anna Kalynchuk.
According to her, this refers only to those hearings that actually took place, not those that were merely scheduled. The re-examination of evidence in the case has been ongoing for over two years.
Kalynchuk notes that although the prosecution has the right to re-examine evidence, such a prolonged review is excessive. She also expressed the conviction that the defense of Vladyslav Manger and Oleksii Levin is trying to delay the process.
During the last hearing, the court reviewed video of a search at Oleksii Levin’s house, where a BYuT party membership card was found. The defense asserts that this is the only evidence of a connection between Manger and Levin. At the same time, the court also examined the interrogation of Serhii Torbin – the organizer of the perpetrators of the crime, who stated that everyone knew about the friendly relations between Manger and Levin.
The defendants insist that the party card was planted.
“The defendants claim that the party card was planted, because allegedly almost the entire axis of the prosecution rests on it. I have only one question: who will believe that out of the entire possible set of “planted” pieces of evidence the Security Service of Ukraine would have chosen this particular, “ironclad” one? Absurd”, wrote Anna Kalynchuk.
The next hearings in the case are scheduled for April 10 and 17.
Note that earlier the lawyer and veteran Masi Naiem suggested that the case may be stalled in court due to the ties of Manger’s lawyer to the Prosecutor General.
In July 2018, Kateryna Handziuk was doused with concentrated sulfuric acid, resulting in 40% skin burns. She was transported to Kyiv, where she underwent over 10 operations.
Kateryna Handziuk fought for her life for 96 days, but on November 4, 2018, she died.
On June 26, 2023, the Dnipro District Court of the city of Kyiv issued a verdict against Vladyslav Manger and Oleksii Levin. They were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in the case of the fatal attack on the activist.