General Prosecutor’s Office conceals Metropolitan Alexander (Drabinko) abroad so that he could not change evidence in Novinsky case, – political expert

Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine decided to “hide” abroad Metropolitan Alexander (Drabinko), fearing he might upset the court case with some new evidence, being a key witness against MP from “Opposition Bloc” Vadim Novinsky, announced expert of the Institute for Politics Analysis and Management Kirill Molchanov. It is reported by РБК-Украина.

“In the case with Drabinko, having fixed the “required” evidence furnished by the key witness, GPO takes safeguards against Drabinko’s changing his viewpoint in the public hearing during the cross-examination. It would be fatal for the Procuracy’s investigators, as there is no alternative serious evidence of Novinsky’s guilt in the matter, based on the outcome of the regulatory committee’s session,” remarked Kirill Molchanov.

According to the politologist, a statement made by Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko that Met. Drabinko had left the country “due to threats to his life”, runs contrary to the statements of Vladyka himself, who had announced several days earlier he had no intentions of leaving Ukraine under whatever circumstances might be, except for short-term business trips and treatment courses abroad.

On November 17 the Metropolitan gave testimony in Pechersk court. As the resource says, such actions are usually applied in the event of terminally ill people or socially disadvantaged persons, whose location will be hard to identify by the time the court trial begins, he noted.

On November 4 the GPO submitted to the Parliament a motion on removing immunity from Member of the Parliament Vadim Novinsky on suspicion of his involvement in “unlawful detainment” of Metropolitan Alexander (Drabinko). MP Vadim Novinsky stated, in his turn, the investigation conducted by the GPO “suggests an outspoken political motivation, the case was framed-up in order to stir up another hubbub and impose pressure on the opposition.”

As it was earlier reported by the UOJ, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church requested President Petro Poroshenko to put an end to using the Church “in political manipulations and settling the scores between political opponents.”