"Despite the fact that the prosecution called 38 witnesses, out of the 30 the defense requested they admitted only two – Oleksandr Turchynov and Mykhailo Livinsky. The court for unknown reasons didn’t allow such important witnesses as former Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Petro Krupko and others to testify," defense lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko told journalists today.
These requested witnesses represent the former government, Naftohaz, Ukrtranshaz, Ernst & Young, and a group of experts that prepared the analysis requested by the Prosecutor General’s Office. These witnesses were interrogated during the pre-trial investigation, but for some reason weren’t summoned to testify in the trial.
Yesterday, Yulia Tymoshenko entered a motion for representatives of her government and Ukrtranshaz to testify: former Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Petro Krupko, former Vice Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria, former First Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov, former head of the oil and gas resources department at Naftohaz Mykola Honcharuk, former acting Defense Minister Ihor Umansky, former Minister of Labor and Social Policy Lyudmyla Denysova, former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, former Vice Prime Minister Ivan Vasyunyk, Batkivshchyna chief of staff Mykhailo Livinsky, deputy head of the Control and Revision Office Nataliya Ruban, a representative of Ernst & Young, and others.
The court rejected the request, following an earlier refusal to allow a journalist to testify who in his article proved that the Presidential Administration is directly influencing the trial.
