"If such an application is filed, the court will satisfy it and provide security," judge Vladyslav Deviatko said at a preparatory meeting on the Yanukovych treason case, responding to one of the defense's petitions.
The defense has not applied to either the court or the prosecutor's office with such a request, Deviatko added.
Read alsoNo video link with Yanukovych as treason trial resumes in Kyiv – mediaDuring the court meeting, Yanukovych's lawyer Ihor Fedorenko called on the court to include the April 24, 2017 ruling of Kyiv's Pechersky district court in the case, which allegedly confirms Yanukovych's status as a victim of an assassination attempt. "This ruling is important to confirm the validity of the reasons for not appearing at the hearings," the lawyer said.
However, the court backed the defense's motion and included the Pechersky district court's ruling in the case.
Later, Fedorenko said that it had been impossible to guarantee Yanukovych's security, so his client have to move to Russia, and the only way he can participate in court hearings now is to do it remotely, through a court in Russia.
