New arrest of Ukrainian official and another change against Yury Lutsenko

The Prosecutor General has initiated criminal proceedings against the Director of the State Ukrainian Medical Supplies Company, Mykola Petrenko and detained him. The charge is of embezzlement on a particularly large scale, the sum allegedly involved being half a million UAH.

The Prosecutor General reports that this is part of an investigation into alleged infringements of the law by government officials in 2009 during the procurement of 1 thousand Opel Combo vans for use as rural ambulances.

The Prosecutor General has also brought a new charge against former Interior Minister, Yury Lutsenko. The latter’s lawyer, Ihor Fomin says that a criminal investigation has been initiated over a particular episode in the investigation into Viktor Yushchenko’s poisoning in 2004.

Mr Fomin had reported earlier that his client was accused of misuse of his official position under a new charge and according to a new article of the Criminal Code which carries a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment with confiscation of property.

He said that he believed this was over Yury Lutsenko having signed, as Minister, a document to have investigative operations continued within the framework of the investigation into the poisoning. Formally Deputy Minister of the Interior, Hennady Moskal believes this may be the permission to carry out surveillance of the drive of one of the former heads of the Security Service, Volodymyr Satsiuk at whose dacha in 2004 presidential candidate had dinner in 2004. Mr Moskal says that these instructions could now be found unlawful.

Members of the opposition assert that all cases against former members of Yulia Tymoshenko’s government are of a political nature and aimed at removing the leaders of the opposition from the parliamentary elections.