Prosecutor General of Ukraine: The investigation into the case of Yanukovych will be completed in February
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Yuriy Lutsenko, in an interview with 1 + 1 TV channel, said that the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (GPU) plans to conduct all the necessary final interviews and examinations in February. Once the pre-trial investigation in the case of the former Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, is complete, the case will go to trial.
"We do not plan to extend the terms of the pre-trial investigation, and that is why we will conduct all the final necessary interrogations and examinations in February. After that, the case will be referred to the court, and I am sure that it is the Ukrainian court that will put an end to this issue ... I count on the lawyers’ integrity that we will finish the investigation in February, along with a short introduction of the case and that then the trial will start. At the same time, we will do everything not to make this case proceed faster, but rather to make it a case of high quality," Lutsenko said.
The Prosecutor General stated that the investigators have gathered evidence according to which the preparation of the Russian invasion in Ukraine began long before the confrontation on the Maidan and Yanukovych’s escape.
Lutsenko said that Ukraine received a letter with the official seal of the United Nations, which states that the letter of Yanukovych to Putin was attached as an official document of the UN Security Council following the request of the representative of the Russian delegation, Churkin.
"This proves the fact that Yanukovych was the one who called on the Russian troops to invade the territory of Ukraine. During this time, we have questioned 32 witnesses who gave a comprehensive picture of how Yanukovych committed treason. An important testimony was given by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Arsen Avakov. To explain, during his interrogation, the day before yesterday, Avakov, provided a note from Yanukovych in which he [Yanukovych] states that he does not require state security as of February 24th, 2014. This completely refutes all Yanukovych’s lies in an appeal to Putin that there were threats in the Crimea from someone," the Prosecutor General said.
According to him, the personal signature of Yanukovych that was given to the Interior Minister Avakov indicates that Yanukovych fled from Kyiv and decided to switch to Russia's side.
"We also interviewed the two deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. These two suggest that the mechanism of deployment of Russian troops to the territory of Ukraine was launched by the Kremlin, in December, when Maidan was still standing in the center of Kyiv. Not to mention that during Surkov’s visit in the Crimea, also in December, there were already talks about the possibility of a military invasion," Lutsenko said.
Earlier, it was reported that the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv allowed holding a pre-trial investigation in absentia in a criminal case against Yanukovych on suspicion of treason.