The International Society for Human Rights (IAC ISHR) emphasizes significant violations of the rights of businessman Ihor Kolomoisky as a suspect in the "contract killing" case. This is stated in the report of the human rights monitoring mission based on the results of the court hearing on the arrest of the businessman.
According to the document, during the monitoring of the hearing in the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv on the choice of a preventive measure for Kolomoisky, IAC ISHR experts recorded "a number of circumstances that may indicate a violation of the right to a fair trial in the context of Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms".
In particular, as experts note, the events of the criminal proceedings, in connection with which the investigation is asking the court to arrest Kolomoisky, took place in 2003. The deadline for prosecution for this crime has already expired, while the prosecutors' position that the businessman is suspected of another criminal offense, and therefore the deadline for criminal prosecution has been interrupted (started counting again in 2013), is not in line with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
"Moreover, we would like to draw attention to the fact that, according to the defence, there is already a verdict of the Babushkinsky (Shevchenkivsky) District Court of Dnipro in 2005, which actually closed the criminal proceedings against Igor Kolomoisky. In addition, there is also a decision of the Zaporizhzhia Court of Appeal of 2005, which identified the perpetrators in this proceeding (Kolomoisky was not identified among them) and a decision of the Dnipro Court of Appeal of 2015, in which the prosecutor's office refused to appeal the 2005 verdict," the report says.
In addition, the IAC ISHR believes that this process may violate the principle of "procedure established by law" (Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR), and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in its case law notes that in the case of deprivation of liberty it is particularly important that the general principle of legal certainty is respected.
"Establishing that any deprivation of liberty must be carried out 'in accordance with the procedure established by law,'" the document said.
The experts also drew attention to the fact that Kolomoisky has already been remanded in custody in another proceeding. Given this, "it is difficult to understand how a suspect, already in custody since September 2023, can violate his obligations in another proceeding, i.e. what are the risks of concealment from the investigation.
"Given this, the circumstances cited by the investigation to satisfy this motion have more signs of template constructions," human rights activists state.
Separately, the experts once again drew attention to Kolomoisky's health condition. The defence submitted numerous medical reports to the case file confirming the need for medical care for the suspect. However, the court did not react to these circumstances at all, which may indicate "a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment".
Also, the IAC ISHR sees a violation of the adversarial principle, because the defence did not have enough time to prepare for the hearing.
"Considering all of the above, the experts of the IAC ISHR monitoring mission believe that this process may violate the right to defence (Article 6(3) ECHR), the principle of procedure established by law (Article 5(1) ECHR), the principle of reasonableness of pre-trial detention (Article 5(3) ECHR), the principle of prohibition of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment (Article 3 ECHR)," the report says.
The IAC ISHR is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organisation that has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and associate status with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). Founded in 1972 in Frankfurt, ISHR is headquartered in Germany and has offices in Ukraine and more than 30 countries around the world.
