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Kozachenko case referred to Prosecutor's General Office for extra investigation
On January 27, 2004 Pechersk District Court of Kiev satisfied repeated application of the Prosecutor's General Office about returning the criminal case against former Deputy Prime Minister for Agriculture Leonid Kozachenko to an extra investigation, due to insufficient number of evidences on the case.
The application of the Prosecutor's Office has stated that the charge is not concrete and does not specify the actual circumstances of committing the crime and its motives. According to Kozachenko's lawyer, the Prosecutor's has been thus unable to provide a full-value proof even of the fact of crime on any of the charges.
According to specialists, such development in the case may stretch out its investigation for an indefinite term.
As we have already informed, on January 20 this year the General Prosecutor's Office appealed to the court with a similar request, but then the court issued a resolution to decline the application.
On March 24, 2003 the Prosecutor General's Office started a criminal case against Leonid Kozachenko, accusing him of three crimes. Now he is being charged of office abuse, resulting in grave consequences, and bribery in especially large scale. Pechersk District Court of Kiev started hearing of the case on October 29, 2003.
Kozachenko held the position of Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Agriculture since June 9, 2001 till November 26, 2002. Many politicians, business people and public figures in Ukraine and abroad argue that criminal charges against him are purely politically motivated.