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Ukraine Court Orders Ex-Minister to Be Jailed for Two Months
2010-12-27 15:23:53.471 GMT
By Daryna Krasnolutska and Kateryna Choursina
Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- A Ukrainian court ordered former
Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko to be held in jail for two
months as the prosecutor general office investigates allegations
of abuse of office.
Lutsenko was detained yesterday at 12:55 p.m. in Kiev,
according to a statement on the website of his Narodna
Samooborona party. Lutsenko said in a separate statement that
neither he, nor his lawyer, were informed yesterday as to why he
was detained. He has three days to challenge the decision.
"Lutsenko is charged with office abuse and exceeding his
authority and misappropriation of state funds in large
amounts," Yuriy Boychenko, the head of the Prosecutor-General's
press service, said by phone. "He was informed of the charges
on Dec. 13 and didn't meet the investigator so the investigator
asked the court to replace the no-flee pledge with an arrest as
the investigation continues."
Lutsenko is the sixth member of former Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko's Cabinet under investigation. Tymoshenko lost a
presidential election to Viktor Yanukovych in a February
election and the president has since cemented his grip on power,
gaining the right to name the prime minister and Cabinet in
October.
The former premier has been under investigation since Dec.
15 for the alleged misuse of funds from the 2009 sale of
emissions permits to Japan. Tymoshenko, who was ordered to stay
in Kiev during the probe, denied any wrongdoing and called the
procedure "terror against the opposition."
Prosecutors in August opened a criminal probe against
former Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn, saying he also
misused funds. He was arrested two months ago in Prague, where
he sought asylum. Former Environment Minister Heorhiy Filipchuk
is being investigated, while former First Deputy Justice
Minister Evhen Korniychuk and ex-Transport Minister Viktor
Bondar were detained last week. The former Head of Ukraine's
State Treasury, Tetiana Sliuz, is on a wanted list.
Ihor Didenko, a former first deputy chief executive officer
at NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy, was arrested this summer.
For Related News and Information:
For more Ukrainian news: NI UKR BN <GO>
Stories about Ukrainian economy: TNI UKR ECO <GO>
Industrial production: UAIPYY <Index> HP <GO>
Emerging market view: EMMV <GO>
Top east Europe news: TOP EEU <GO>
Economic statistics: ECST <GO>
--Editors: Alan Crosby, Douglas Lytle
To contact the reporter on this story:
Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at +38-044-490-1252 or
dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Willy Morris at +44-20-7673-2254 or
wmorris@bloomberg.net;
