On 5 June, the Kyiv Court of Appeal left Vyacheslav Boguslayev, the former president of Motor Sich, in custody without bail. According to the decision of the court of first instance, he will be held in a pre-trial detention centre until 19 July this year. This was reported by Suspilne with reference to Vyacheslav Boguslayev's lawyer Ruslan Volynets.
According to him, the prosecutor, despite the completion of the investigation, asked to keep the preventive measure in force because of the risks of influencing witnesses, fleeing abroad, destroying or distorting evidence, and continuing to commit the crime. Of these, the court upheld the first two.
"Predictably, they extended (the measure of restraint - ed.). Although, in fact, it was a simple, logical question on ‘fleeing abroad’. I tell the judges that we now have hearings once a month, sometimes twice. We have 40 volumes of the case, 50 witnesses. That is, it will take, at best, three years, or even all five years before the verdict. Why would he (Boguslayev - ed.) want to escape now? If he knew that tomorrow he could be sentenced to 15 years and he escaped, it would be logical. He understands that he will be sentenced in three or five years. Go to court and prove it. So why should he run away now?’ Boguslayev's defence lawyer said.
Volynets added that the lawyers, together with Boguslayev, had almost got acquainted with the evidence in the case.
"The situation with the witnesses has now gone beyond the limits of the established practice. The risk of witnesses being influenced is usually removed when the investigation is over and the case is transferred to court. Otherwise, it is a vicious circle. Witnesses will be interrogated in two years, and all this time the person is sitting (in captivity - ed.). We suggested in court: Let's interrogate the witnesses first, and then examine the evidence. The prosecutor objected, the court upheld it, and we are still in this situation,’ he said.
The next court hearing in Boguslayev's case will be held in early July.