Ukrainian Security Service says it detained ex-Justice Minister Olena Lukash
KYIV. Nov 5 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has detained former Justice Minister Olena Lukash, SBU spokesperson Olena Hitlyanska said.
"We are calling a news briefing at 3:00 p.m. in connection with the Ukrainian Security Service's detention of Olena Lukash, who has been wanted for complicity in crimes against Maidan," Hitlyanska said on Facebook.
Lukash served as justice minister in the government led by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov in 2013-2014. She was dismissed on February 27, 2014.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office demanded on February 28, 2014 that the Interior Ministry and SBU detain Lukash within 10 days on suspicion of responsibility for shooting activists on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in Kyiv from February 18 to 22.
The European Union and Canada announced in March 2014 that Lukash was on a list of high-ranking Ukrainian officials subject to financial sanctions.
On May 28, 2015, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office charged Lukash with large-scale collusive misappropriation of public funds through an abuse of office committed by a group and forgery by an official that led to grave consequences.
The SBU put Lukash on the wanted list on September 10, 2015. Media claimed that Lukash was in Russia.
