Probe into Ukrainian parliamentarian Shcherban's killing in 1996 will be brought to end - deputy prosecutor general
KYIV. May 14 (Interfax) - An investigation aimed at revealing the masterminds of the assassination of Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Yevhen Shcherban in 1996 will be brought to an end, Ukrainian First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin told Kommersant-Ukraine.
Asked how likely it is that, if Ukraine does not receive the necessary documents from the Czech Republic and the U.S., the case may be closed, Kuzmin said, "Your presumption that the case will be closed is wrong. It will be investigated in full and brought to an end."
It was reported earlier that a Prosecutor General's Office investigator issued a directive on April 26 to suspend the investigation into Shcherban's killing, the organization of which has been blamed on former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, due to the need to meet deadlines and fulfill some international legal requests. At the present time, the investigation has been resumed.
"The directive on suspending the investigation was dated April 26, and investigative actions were resumed by a directive dated May 13," the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office told Interfax on Monday.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka said at a news conference on January 18, 2013 that the Prosecutor General's Office had completed an investigation into Shcherban's assassination in 1996, and Tymoshenko was officially notified that she was suspected of organizing this murder for mercenary reasons jointly with former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko. If found guilty, Tymoshenko may be sentenced to life in prison.
Pshonka claimed that Tymoshenko and Lazarenko paid $2.8 million for Shcherban's assassination.
Both Tymoshenko and Lazarenko have categorically denied their role in the murder.
Witnesses to the case are being questioned now in Kyiv at the pre-trial phase of the investigation. Tymoshenko has never attended these questioning sessions, although her defense team has claimed repeatedly that she is willing to do so.
Petro Kyrychenko, a former aide to Lazarenko, is scheduled to be questioned via a video link with San Francisco on Wednesday, May 15.