The appeal Court of Kyiv postponed until August 31 the hearing of the appeal against the sentence of former interior Ministry General Alexei Pukach, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the deprivation of life of Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze, in the absence of the convicted person and his defence lawyer in court, said Wednesday the press service of the court.

The court proceeded to consider the appeal in February, but since then it has not moved forward. For a long period of time, the Court resolved technical issues, for example, defined in an open or closed format to consider the case. Later meetings many times postponed because of issues with the health of Pukach's lawyer.

"The judges of the judicial chamber on criminal cases of the Appeal court of Kyiv has announced a break in consideration of criminal case concerning a convicted Pukach P. A. Until 31 August 2015 until eleven: 00 (same as GMT)," - said the press service of the court. This decision is due to the fact that the convoy was not delivered Pukach at the court meeting due to the poor riches of his health. In addition, the workshop came Pukach's lawyer Gregory Demidenko.

The Pechersky district Court of Kiev on January 29, 2013 recognized Pukach guilty in the death of Gongadze and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The court also ordered Pukach 62, 5 thousand dollars in favor of the family devoid of the life of a journalist.

Gongadze in April, 2000, he founded the Internet-the edition " Ukrainian truth ", which very quickly criticized the policies of former President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma. A few months Gongadze reported the Prosecutor's office about the unknown threats to your own address. In September of the same year, the journalist disappeared, returning home from work. Two weeks later, his headless body found in Tarashcha forest Kyiv region.

A few years Pukach was hiding from law enforcement, but in 2009 he was placed behind bars. In the course of the investigation, the former head of the Department for external intelligence service of the Ministry of interior admitted that he personally strangled the journalist at the direction of then head of the Ministry of internal Affairs Yury Kravchenko. The court in its own sentence showed that Pukach committed the murder, wanting to move up the career ladder. Mention about custom-made character of murder in the sentence was not.

sections: Politics