A FORMER Ukrainian interior minister has been arrested in a dramatic operation by masked security service agents. It is the latest move against allies of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko by forces loyal to her long-time foe, president Viktor Yanukovich.
Yuri Lutsenko was walking with his son and his dog in Kiev when members of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) seized him and brought him to jail where, a court ruled yesterday, he is to remain for the next two months – without bail.
“Lutsenko went out with his dog and turned the corner to where there were no CCTV cameras.
“There, 11 masked SBU servicemen . . . snatched him and took him away in a minivan,” his party said in a statement.
Prosecutors have revealed that Mr Lutsenko is accused of abuse of office and misspending state funds, but his party has said that he is also being investigated in relation to the poisoning of ex-president Viktor Yushchenko, one of Mr Lutsenko’s former allies.
Mr Yushchenko was badly disfigured by dioxin poisoning in the run-up to 2004 elections, which culminated in the so-called Orange Revolution after Mr Yanukovich’s team rigged the ballot.
Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko, with Mr Lutsenko as a key deputy, took power after the initial result was overturned and the election re-run, but their fractious and chaotic rule ended when Mr Yanukovich capped a spectacular comeback by winning this year’s presidential election.
Ms Tymoshenko has been accused of abuse of office, misuse of state funds and embezzlement, and several of her prominent supporters are being investigated.
“Today an attack is taking place against people who stand strongly against the dishonest and illegal steps of Yanukovich and his circle,” said Ms Tymoshenko, who has called the legal campaign against her team “the revenge of the mafia”.
