Prosecutors Want Court To Sentence Yanukovych Accused Of High Treason To 15 Years In Prison

Prosecutors want the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv to sentence former president Viktor Yanukovych, who is accused of high treason, to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutor Maksym Krym said this during the debates, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

On August 16, prosecutors read the speech for the debates.

According to the speech, Yanukovych is accused of leaving the post of the president on February 22-23, 2014. He is also accused of voluntary cooperation with Russian authorities and Russian military for seizure of the territory of the Crimea.

Yanukovych sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to invade Ukraine.

The letter was used by the Russian Federation as a legal ground for the annexation of the Crimea.

For the crimes prosecutors want the court to sentence Yanukovych to 15 years in prison.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on Thursday, the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv has commenced debates during the trial of former president Yanukovych regardless of protests of his lawyers.

On August 1, 2018, the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv again put off debates during the trial of f Yanukovych because of the refusal of public defender Viktor Ovsiannykov to participate in the debates.

On July 31, 2018, the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv appointed the public defender to Yanukovych following the refusal of his lawyers to take part in the debates.

On July 17, 2018, the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv cancelled questioning of witnesses and started legal debates within the Yanukovych's high treason case.