Farion’s murder: Zinchenko’s lawyer has filed third motion for recusal with court. VIDEO+PHOTOS
The hearing in the case of the murder of Iryna Farion is currently underway at the Shevchenkivskyi District Court in Lviv. Larisa Kryvoruchko, the defence lawyer for the accused, Zinchenko, has filed a third motion for the judge’s recusal.
This was reported by a correspondent for Censor.NET.
Details
This time, the reason is that the court allegedly failed to verify the credentials of Zinchenko’s previous lawyers, who were defending him whilst their licences were suspended. Consequently, it is claimed, Zinchenko was deprived of the right to a proper defence.
Natalia Romanik, the lawyer for Iryna Farion’s family, stated that this was the responsibility of the lawyers who had acted in breach of the rules. And the court is not obliged to verify a lawyer’s credentials at every hearing.
The court retired to the deliberation room, during which time a heated exchange broke out between the Farion family’s lawyer and Zinchenko’s defence counsel.
The court denied the motion in recusal and called a recess.
What led up to this?
It was previously reported that lawyer Larysa Kryvoruchko, who is defending the man accused of murdering linguist Iryna Farion, had her licence to practise law suspended due to breaches of professional ethics.
She subsequently challenged this decision in court and her licence to practise law was reinstated
The murder of Iryna Farion
As a reminder, on the evening of 19 July 2024, an unknown assailant shot Iryna Farion on Masaryk Street in Lviv.
According to local reports, the shooter was seen by neighbours. The man who shot Faryon was aged 20–25. He was waiting for her by the exit, carrying a pistol without a silencer, and wearing gloves.
Doctors operated on Farion, but were unable to save her life.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that law enforcement are considering several theories regarding the murder. These include personal animosity and Farion’s social and political activities.
Law enforcement officers have published photographs and a description of a man who may be involved in Farion’s murder.
On 25 July, President Zelenskyy announced the arrest of a suspect in the murder of Iryna Farion. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko believes that the suspect may only be the perpetrator.
On 26 July, the Halytskyi District Court in Lviv remanded an 18-year-old resident of Dnipro in custody for two months without the right to bail.
Subsequently, the lawyer lodged an appeal against the preventive measure. Zinchenko’s preventive measure was left unchanged.
The case regarding the murder of Farion has been reclassified, and the suspect, Zinchenko, faces life imprisonment.
On 24 March, the defendant Viacheslav Zinchenko announced that he was going on hunger strike, explaining this by the disappearance of sports equipment – a ‘wall bar’ – that had been sent to him in the detention centre.
