Zinchenko's new attorney asked the court to reinstate his previous defense attorney
During a recent hearing at the Shevchenkivskyi District Court in Lviv, Vyacheslav Zinchenko’s newly appointed public defender filed a motion to reinstate his previous attorney to the case. Zinchenko is accused of murdering linguist Iryna Farion.
During the hearing, Zinchenko’s new public defender, Diana Kara, requested that his previous attorney, Larisa Kryvoruchko, be reinstated to the defense team in her place. However, the court ruled that the defendant’s interests would be represented by both defense attorneys.
Iryna Farion’s daughter, Sofia Osoba, did not attend the hearing; her interests were represented by attorney Natalia Romanik, who joined the proceedings online. Zinchenko’s previous attorney, Larisa Kryvoruchko, was also supposed to participate via video link; she had requested this option from the court on the day of the hearing, but she did not join the proceedings.
Due to the suspension of Larisa Kryvoruchko’s law practice, Vyacheslav Zinchenko was assigned a public defender—attorney Diana Kara. During the hearing, Zinchenko stated that he was aware that Kryvoruchko’s license had been reinstated and expressed his desire for her to continue representing his interests. Zinchenko also filed a motion to reject the state-appointed attorney.
Diana Kara supported the defendant’s position and asked the court to terminate her participation in the case and reinstate Larisa Kryvoruchko as defense counsel.
In response, prosecutor Dmytro Petlovany objected to Kryvoruchko being Zinchenko’s sole defense attorney. He noted that her involvement in the case exceeded the normal duration of defense representation, since the hearings had to be postponed due to repeated suspensions of her legal practice.
The prosecutor also pointed out that during the entire time she had been representing Zinchenko, the attorney had visited him in pretrial detention only once. According to the prosecutor, this raises the question of whether such representation can be considered adequate.
After deliberation, the court decided to retain Larisa Kryvoruchko as Vyacheslav Zinchenko’s defense attorney but, at the same time, to add public defender Diana Kara to the case. Thus, the defendant will henceforth be represented by two attorneys.
After the court’s decision was announced, Diana Kara declined to comment to reporters on her continued involvement in Zinchenko’s defense.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 7 at 11:00 a.m., according to ZAXID.NET.
Read also:
Kyiv attorney Larisa Kryvoruchko, who is defending Vyacheslav Zinchenko—accused of murdering renowned linguist Iryna Farion—has officially regained her license to practice law.
The lawyer for the man accused of Farion’s murder claims she is working pro bono
The defense attorney for the suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion had her license to practice law suspended
