Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko considers the information about the alleged termination of the investigation against former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to be a political manipulation.

"I consider the statement that the Prosecutor General's Office allegedly stopped investigation against Yanukovych and his associates a political manipulation of those people who are not satisfied with the start of the battle against corruption in the country and, in particular, in the city of Lviv. This manipulation is carried out exclusively to draw attention away from the fact that the favorite employee of the Lviv mayor was caught red-handed taking a bribe," Lutsenko said at a joint press conference with SBU chief Vasyl Hrytsak in Kyiv on Friday.

Ukrainian laws allow a maximum of one year for an inquiry, the prosecutor general said. "I headed up the Prosecutor General's Office after two and a half years of investigation of high-profile cases on Maidan and Yanukovych [...]. The law allows for dropping a suspect manhunt case [...] as is the case with Yanukovych's manhunt, but this gives us an opportunity to proceed to the in absentia sentencing procedure," Lutsenko said.

The Prosecutor General's Office is going to ask parliamentarians to clarify the order of this procedure, he said. "This will enable us, already this year, to start all proceedings necessary for the in absentia sentencing of Yanukovych and his accomplices. We've gathered evidence for at least five criminal cases," the prosecutor general said.