Kyiv judge says Yanukovych's guilt proven in treason trial, no verdict yet:
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
A Ukrainian judge who is delivering the verdict at the in-absentia treason trial of former President Viktor Yanukovych says the evidence proves his guilt, but a formal ruling of guilty or innocent has not yet been pronounced.
Judge Vladyslav Devyatko began reading out the verdict at Kyiv's Obolon district court on January 24. https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/news-vyrok-yanukovycha/29727775.html
Yanukovych was pushed from power in February 2014 by a protest movement known as the Euromaidan, which erupted after he scrapped plans for a landmark agreement with the European Union and said he would pursue closer ties with Moscow.
The former president, who fled to Russia shortly after his ouster and has not returned, is charged on three counts -- high treason, taking deliberate actions that violated Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and complicity with Russian authorities.
He has denied all the charges, contending that the case is politically motivated, and in November refused to give testimony by video, citing recent surgery.
Devyatko said that the evidence presented to the court had proved Yanukovych's guilt, but court spokeswoman Inna Svynarenko said the formal ruling and sentence would come at the end of the verdict. It was expected to last several hours.
"Although the defendant pleaded not guilty, the court, after listening to the evidence of witnesses, studying the conclusions of experts, documents, and material evidence, and hearing the conclusions of the prosecution and defense, considers the defendant's guilt...to have been proved," the judge said.
The prosecution has asked the court to sentence Yanukovych to 15 years in prison.
After Yanukovych abandoned his office and fled to Russia, Moscow moved swiftly to seize control over Ukraine's Crimea region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's government sent troops without insignia to the peninsula, seized key buildings, took control of the regional legislature, and staged a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries at the United Nations.
Russia also fomented unrest and backed opponents of Kyiv in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 people have been killed in the ensuing conflict since April 2014.
The International Criminal Court ruled in November 2016 that the fighting in eastern Ukraine was "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation." (w/ Current Time, UNIAN, Meduza, AP, Kyiv Post, and TASS)