PGO activating investigation of Constitutional Court justices who helped Yanukovych usurp power
Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) is activating its investigation into illegal rulings by justices of Ukraine's Constitutional Court leading to changes in the Constitution in 2010 and will finish investigating the multitude of charges against disgraced former President Viktor Yanukovych," PGO head Yuriy Lutsenko has said.
"We are activating the investigation of this matter, because it is necessary to finish before moving on the big case against Yanukovych," Lutsenko said on Tuesday during an interview on Channel 24 TV.
Lutsenko said that the case against Yanukovych is comprised of several elements.
"Yanukovych usurped power by pressuring the Constitutional Court and used power in order to control the country's economy, which he plundered. He then, through trusted associates, including citizens of the Russian Federation, degraded the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He next signed the so-called Kharkiv accords, which provided for increased Russian troop levels in Sevastopol, after which he accepted an unprofitable loan (from Russia) and refused to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, which brought people out on the streets in protest.
The PGO head said that this is an enormous case, tantamount to state treason, and that Yanukovych himself and his associates should be tried for these crimes, either in court or in abstentia.
Lutsenko said judges cannot be brought to justice because they are not liable criminally for the verdicts they delivered.
"But this is very important. There are several judges who have acknowledged they were pressured by Yanukovych to approve the decision to change the Constitution. Yes, some have gone back on their testimony and this remains a problem," he said.
As earlier reported, the PGO is investigating whether Yanukovych and members of the Constitutional Court committed treason, as well as the heads of law-enforcement agencies, in its combined case against the former president.
As of September 12, Ukraine's Justice Ministry had not received a reply to its second request to the Justice Minister of the Russian Federation to interrogate Yanukovych.
