Trial over Bandazhevsky underway in Gomel :: Charter'97 :: News

Trial proceedings over the former rector of the Gomel Institute of Medicine professor Yuri Bandazhevsky and some his co-workers, charged with bribery, will resume February 26 in Gomel after almost a week`s break. Bandazhevsky pleaded not guilty on all the charges, brought against him. Former assistant rector Vladimir Ravkov and mother of one of the students, indicted for bribing university professors, deny their guilt likewise. Other 5 defendants agree with the accusation partially: they deny their getting bribes, claiming that they only acted as mediators in the process.

The major reason for the halt in the process was that the lawyers had been involved in other criminal proceedings. In fact, there took place only three court sessions on the process, which got started on February 13. The jury only managed to read out the accusation remarks and start interrogating one of the defendants - professor of biology Natalya Fomchenko.

Ravkov`s defense asked the court to initiate a medical expertise, which would determine whether the defendant, who suffers from heart problems and takes strong drugs, can fully participate in the process. The jury, however, turned down this proposal.

The trial proceedings are held in the courtroom of the Regional court of Gomel, on Sovetskaya str. Among all the accused individuals, it is only assistant rector Ravkov who sits in a courtroom behind bars. This is usually the case with those defendants, who are placed in confinement jail, awaiting trial. Ravkov has been imprisoned since July 1999.