Ukraine pardons 2 backers of jailed ex-PM
Source: Agencies |
April 8, 2013, Monday
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UKRAINE'S president yesterday pardoned two former government ministers who are allies of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, moving toward fulfilling a key demand on Kiev's path to integrate closer with the European Union.
President Viktor Yanukovych signed a decree to pardon former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, 48, who is serving a four-year sentence on charges of abuse of office and embezzlement. Lutsenko's health has deteriorated since his arrest in early 2010, his supporters and doctors said.
The move came after the presidential commission on pardons recommended it to Yanukovych. He also pardoned another Tymoshenko ally, former Environment Minister Heorhiy Filipchuk, who was also imprisoned for abuse of office.
Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2011 of abuse office.
The West has called the cases politically motivated. The EU has warned that it will not sign a key cooperation pact with Kiev until those two cases are resolved. Yanukovych also needs Western support as he tries to secure a US$15 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The EU's enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fuele, said on his Twitter feed that the pardons for Lutsenko and Filipchuk were a "first but important step."
The state prison service said that Lutsenko had been released.
President Viktor Yanukovych signed a decree to pardon former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, 48, who is serving a four-year sentence on charges of abuse of office and embezzlement. Lutsenko's health has deteriorated since his arrest in early 2010, his supporters and doctors said.
The move came after the presidential commission on pardons recommended it to Yanukovych. He also pardoned another Tymoshenko ally, former Environment Minister Heorhiy Filipchuk, who was also imprisoned for abuse of office.
Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2011 of abuse office.
The West has called the cases politically motivated. The EU has warned that it will not sign a key cooperation pact with Kiev until those two cases are resolved. Yanukovych also needs Western support as he tries to secure a US$15 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The EU's enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fuele, said on his Twitter feed that the pardons for Lutsenko and Filipchuk were a "first but important step."
The state prison service said that Lutsenko had been released.
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