Judges postpone hearing of Loschynivka murder case until next year

The Mykolaiv Court of Appeal has once again postponed consideration of lawyer Andriy Leshchenko 's appeal against the verdict by which the Primorskyi Court of Odesa sentenced his client Mykhailo Chobotar to life imprisonment for the murder of a girl in Loschynivka.

As Andriy Leshchenko told Intent, on October 30, the judges planned to consider the case, but an interpreter did not show up and the hearing was postponed to January 22, 2026.

In July, the judges postponed the hearing due to the lack of communication with the pre-trial detention center. The lawyer also said that he had recused himself from the hearing due to delays in the case, but the judges had not yet considered the motion. The case has been postponed until October 30.

In April, the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal postponed until July 25 the consideration of the appeal of lawyer Andriy Leshchenko against the verdict by which the Primorskyi Court of Odesa convicted his client Mykhailo Chobotar for the murder of a girl in Loschynivka. The court has repeatedly postponed the consideration of this case, and the lawyer considers such actions of the court to be a deliberate delay in the consideration of this case, due to the unwillingness to make any decision.

On September 26, 2024, the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal was supposed to hold a hearing to consider the appeal, but the hearing was postponed to January 16, 2025, due to the delay of lawyer Ivanov, who was stuck in a traffic jam. Despite a request to wait a few minutes, the judge decided to set a new date for the hearing.

Prior to that, during the hearing, the lawyers filed a motion to change the measure of restraint for their client Mikhail Chobotar. However, the court denied this request. In May 2024, the court decided to consider the appeals via videoconference with the Odesa pre-trial detention center. They also decided to involve an interpreter, because the convicted Mykhailo Chobotar does not understand Ukrainian.

The consideration of lawyer Andriy Leshchenko's appeal against the verdict by which the Prymorskyi Court of Odesa convicted his client Mykhailo Chobotar of the murder of a girl in Loschynivka was transferred to the Mykolaiv Court of Appeal in December 2023. Since then, the judges have been studying the case.

Кирило Бойко