In the Farion case, the hearing was postponed due to Zinchenko's defense
On August 27, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv was scheduled to resume court proceedings in the case of the murder of Iryna Farion. The defendant, Vyacheslav Zinchenko, and his attorney, Diana Kara, declined to present their case, stating that the defense needed additional time to prepare.
On August 27, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv held another hearing in the case of the murder of linguist and civic activist Iryna Farion. Vyacheslav Zinchenko, who is accused of murdering Farion, was brought to court under National Guard escort. Before the hearing began, he spoke with his attorney, Diana Kara.
Zinchenko’s other defense attorney, Larisa Kryvoruchko, was not present in court. Judge Petro Nevoyt stated that she had filed a motion for leave and requested that the hearing be postponed. In addition, the court drew attention to information in the Unified Register of Attorneys. The register once again contained information regarding the suspension of Kryvoruchko’s right to practice law until June 5, 2027. This decision was made by the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar Association of Vinnytsia Oblast.
Diana Kara stated that she had spoken with Kryvoruchko prior to the hearing. According to her, her colleague assured her that she had appealed the decision and that her license remained valid. At the same time, Kara stated that she was not prepared to argue the case in court on her own. She explained that it was Kryvoruchko who had prepared the pretrial brief and coordinated the legal position with Zinchenko.
The attorney asked the court to grant her additional time to obtain the necessary documents from her colleague and to fully familiarize herself with the case materials. Kara also noted that the court had granted her only 50 days to review the materials of the criminal proceedings. In her opinion, this is insufficient to fully prepare a defense in such a complex case.
Despite this, the court continued the hearing. The judge invited Zinchenko to speak during the debate, since, according to Kara, he had already coordinated his position with Kryvoruchko. Zinchenko declined. “My position has been agreed upon with defense attorney Kryvoruchko,” he said. At the same time, the defendant added that he had not had a confidential conversation with Kara regarding his position.
After that, the court announced a 30-minute recess so that Zinchenko and his attorney could discuss their next steps. However, after the recess, Kara filed a new motion with the court clerk’s office. In it, she stated that without full access to the materials of the criminal case—in particular, the video and audio recordings of the court hearings—it would be impossible to properly defend Zinchenko. Subsequently, the judge once again offered the defendant the opportunity to speak during the closing arguments.
Zinchenko refused again. He explained that it was impossible to coordinate a position on a case of this magnitude in half an hour. The defendant also pointed out Kryvoruchko’s absence. According to him, it was with her that he had been coordinating his position. In addition, Zinchenko stated that he wanted to call a witness to court for his presentation during the closing arguments.
Kara, for her part, emphasized that she had effectively become the sole defense attorney after Kryvoruchko’s license to practice law was suspended. “I do not intend to abuse procedural rights, and this will not be a delay for the sake of delay. I need more time to present the defense’s position in a substantive, rather than merely formal, manner,” the attorney stated.
According to her, to prepare for the closing arguments, she needs to review the materials that Kryvoruchko may provide, or independently prepare the defense’s position and coordinate it with Zinchenko. The court agreed to grant the attorney additional time. She was given the opportunity to review the materials of the criminal proceedings by September 6. The next court hearing in the case was scheduled for September 7.
As a reminder, Iryna Farion was fatally wounded in Lviv on July 19, 2024. According to the investigation, Vyacheslav Zinchenko is implicated in her murder. He remains in custody, and the case is pending in court. Zinchenko does not admit guilt in the murder. The final decision in the case is to be rendered by the court. This was reported by Suspilne.
On the second anniversary of the death of linguist and Member of Parliament of the 7th convocation Iryna Farion, her daughter Sofia Osoba published a poignant video message. She shared family memories, spoke about a family tradition, and expressed words of love and gratitude to her mother.
As a reminder, the defendant accused of Faryon’s murder will be assigned a public defender.
The defendant in the Faryon murder case refused to testify in court.
