"A break is announced in this case until August 10, 10 a.m. [07:00 GMT], meaning that the court grants you a week for a further study of the materials," Judge Vladislav Devyatko told Yanukovych’s lawyer Vitaly Meshechek.
Meshechek requested a one-month break in order to study the indictment, since he had only read 23 of the 51 volumes of the criminal case.
Mass protests erupted in Ukraine after the former president refused to sign an association agreement with the European Union. Yanukovych was overthrown and had to flee the country in 2014. During the clashes between the security forces and the protesters, more than 100 people died. New Ukrainian authorities headed by President Petro Poroshenko put the blame on the former president and accused him of treason.
On May 4, the court launched a preliminary hearing of Yanukovych’s case and on the same day, Ukrainian Prosecutor Viktor Kravchenko said that the public prosecutors would seek life imprisonment for the former president. In late June, the court started the merit review in the case.
