Stabbing incident in Mykolaiv involving recidivist Bohomyatkov and the brother of a former MP: a request has been made to suspend the judge.

On Thursday, October 31, a hearing took place at the Central District Court of Mykolaiv regarding a stabbing incident involving the brother of former city council deputy Andriy Nevenchanyi, who is suspected of murder during a fight outside a store. The court was considering a motion to disqualify Judge Volodymyr Aleinikov from handling this case.

The hearing on the disqualification was conducted by Judge Serhiy Medyuk, as reported by a correspondent from "Novosti-N" from the courtroom.

During the session, the defense noted that they had submitted a request to disqualify Judge Volodymyr Aleinikov due to his comments made to journalists. According to the lawyers, Judge Aleinikov expressed his views regarding the suspect as well as the victims. In particular, he voiced his respect for the victims' service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and pointed out that the accused Andriy Nevenchanyi does not serve in the military.

- The request was made because the judge showed favoritism and provided a characterization of the accused. As for the victims, he expressed his respect and personal opinion towards them, contrasting this with the victims by noting that the accused engaged in unlawful actions. He performed actions that negatively characterize him. What impression can an outside observer form if the judge who is reviewing the case, even before the verdict, expresses admiration for the victim and remarks on what a scoundrel the accused is? - said Yuriy Tymoshyn.

In turn, the prosecution and the representative of the injured party expressed that they saw no reason to disqualify the judge. The prosecutor stated that replacing the judge could adversely affect the case proceedings.

Moreover, Judge Serhiy Medyuk read out the explanations from Judge Volodymyr Aleinikov, where he stated that his comments regarding his admiration for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and servicemen had no relevance to the case. He also read the article that led to the disqualification request.

Additionally, during the session, the defense representatives pointed out to Judge Serhiy Medyuk that during his comments, Judge Aleinikov expressed opinions about who was attacking whom during the fight.

- The judge demonstrates his attitude towards the accused and the victim in the context of recognizing the accused as guilty of showing aggression and being the initiator of the conflict with the victim. This case has not yet been reviewed, and the court has not yet decided who "threw themselves" at whom, and why one person, under strange circumstances, was fighting, while the other person, as the judge himself points out, was involved in a street brawl. This is a direct quote from the article, - said Yuriy Tymoshyn.

As a result, Judge Serhiy Medyuk retired to the deliberation room to make a decision. The decision will be announced on Friday, November 1.

As reported by "Novosti-N," the arrested individual – Andriy Nevenchanyi, is a cousin of the former city council deputy.

The victim in the knife fight in Mykolaiv was Yuriy Bohomyatkov, who was in pre-trial detention at the start of the full-scale invasion - he was a subject of an extortion case.

In February 2023, Dmytro Kazak, who was then the head of the Mykolaiv regional prosecutor's office, announced at a briefing that the accused in the extortion case, Yuriy Bohomyatkov, was released from pre-trial detention to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.