Chornovol beating suspect's story does not stack up

Serhiy Kotenko, one of the arrested suspects accused of causing grievous bodily harm to Tetyana Chornovol, spoke to a journalist through courtroom cage bars when he appeared in court. a couple of days ago. Partial transcript in English here:

Much of his story does not stack up.

I have personally had involvement with guys from Ukraine purchasing vehicles. They are ultra, ultra careful to verify everything, particularly documents relating to ownership. A smudged document stamp or one wrong number in a chassis or engine number entered on a registration document, and its no deal..

"The goods" are invariably scrupulously, if not microscopically examined, inside, outside, underneath, everywhere...

Kotenko claims he was selling the Porsche Cayenne [which rammed Chornovol's little Chevrolet], yet he was not the owner - the vehicle was registered to another of the suspects, one Oleksandr Khramtsov. He and prospective purchasers would be well aware no sale could be made without correct paperwork.

I cannot imagine anyone buying [or selling, come to that] a vehicle at midnight in the middle of winter, on the street, to strangers, particularly a high-end Porsche, even though it was a few years old.

Kotenko says the two prospective purchasers he met looked tough and mean - he thought they were boxers; he did not know them yet he let them drive the vehicle on a main highway in the middle of the night...knowing though they could have dumped him any time at the side of the road and drive away scot-free.

They smashed up his vehicle, beat up Chornovol, drove to Brovary, and left him without saying a word. But Kotenko went to a friend's place and goes to bed..without informing the police....

At the end of the dash camera footage from Chornovol's car, two guys emerge from the Porsche, and the vehicle then drives forward..Either Kotenko was at the wheel and not on the back seat as he claims, in which case he actively participated in the crime, or he was one of the two guys seen coming out of the vehicle, the other prospective purchasers being behind the wheel, steering the car to one side of the road.