12:00 19.11.2013

US hasn't responded to Melnyk's extradition request yet, says Ukraine's PGO

2 min read
US hasn't responded to Melnyk's extradition request yet, says Ukraine's PGO

Ukraine has not yet received a response from the United States concerning the possibility of the extradition of former Rector of the National University of State Tax Service of Ukraine Petro Melnyk to Ukraine, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka has said.

"You know that there is a request for Melnyk's extradition, [but] we haven't had a specific answer yet," the prosecutor general said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Melnyk was detained on July 27, 2013 on suspicion of demanding from two Ukrainian citizens bribes of UAH 40,000 and UAH 80,000 to accept their relatives' entry to university.

Kyiv's Pechersky District Court on August 1, 2013, ruled to place Melnyk under house arrest on suspicion of bribery. Melnyk was not allowed to leave his apartment except in situations in which he might need a medical examination or treatment.

On August 7, 2013 a tracking bracelet was put on the ex-rector. Melnyk became the first senior official to have a tracking bracelet put on.

The ex-rector escaped house arrest on August 9, having removed his electronic tracking bracelet.

On August 14, he was put on an international wanted list.

On August 27, 2013, Ukraine's Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko announced that the police had identified Melnyk's location and were preparing for his detention and further extradition to Ukraine.

On September 16, a posting on the official Web site of MP Hennadiy Moskal read that former Rector of the National University of the State Tax Service Petro Melnyk is in San Marcos, California (the United States).

The Prosecutor General's Office earlier said that they sent a request to the United States asking for legal assistance in criminal proceedings against the ex-rector.

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