Detained former head of Ukraine's 'Party of Regions' is suspected of helping to create so-called LPR Sunday, July 31, 2016 12:41:04 PM

On Saturday, July 30, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, announced at a press conference in Kiev that the former head of the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Yefremov, is suspected of assisting in the establishment and activities of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.

“A week ago we received direct testimonies about the involvement of the citizen Yefremov in the organization of the LPR,” Lutsenko said. He added that Yefremov is suspected of abusing his power in order to seize the property of Luhanskugol, as well as “deliberate action to change the borders of Ukraine, violation of the Constitution, which led to loss of life” and “committing organizational and other assistance” to establish the so-called LPR.

The Prosecutor General's office will make an appeal to arrest Yefremov.

Lutsenko called Yefremov a “valuable witness” who can speak about the beginning of hostilities in the Donbas. He said that the Prosecutor General's office will request that the politician be arrested, and stressed that the charges do not provide for preventive measures in the form of bail or house arrest. According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the reason for the detention was information about Yefremov’s possible escape.

The former head of the Party of Regions faction was arrested on July 30 at the Kiev Borispol airport where he was trying to fly to Vienna, where his son lives.

In 2015, the politician had already been detained on charges of abuse of the office position and forgery, and later on charges of financing terrorism. At that time, the court released him on bail. In May 2016, Yefremov said he was interrogated for six criminal proceedings against him.

Share

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.