The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) says that the second decision on arrest in absentia is in force against former President Viktor Yanukovych, and the court also made a ruling on his detention to apply measure of restraint.

Deputy Head of the department for "Maidan cases" within the PGO Denys Ivanov said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday, Kyiv Court of Appeal has not yet issued the full text of the decision to cancel the arrest in absentia for Yanukovych.

"What was voiced today when the full text was announced and what was posted on the Internet, in my opinion, does not quite correspond to the current criminal legislation [...]. This is my subjective opinion as a prosecutor who supports procedural guidance in this proceeding," he said.

According to Ivanov, the Court of Appeal says that the prosecutor and the investigator had not proved the existence of an international search for Yanukovych, and therefore the case was submitted for a new trial.

"If such circumstances were really established, then there would be a direct refusal to sustain the petition of the investigator and the prosecutor," the deputy head of the department said.

He said that the court recognized the validity of the charges against Yanukovych for organizing the violent dispersal of the protesters.

"To date, this ruling [on the cancellation of the decision on arrest in absentia and referral of the case for reconsideration] has negative consequences for the investigation only in the fact that the investigator and prosecutor must go through the process of proving the circumstances in the court of first instance again," the PGO representative said.

Ivanov said that the prosecutor's office will support its motion for arrest in absentia in the court of first instance.

"This decision [of Kyiv Court of Appeal] does not mean that Yanukovych has the opportunity to return, and no criminal and legal measures will be applied against him. You all know that in a high treason case, the verdict came into force, he was convicted to 13 years of imprisonment. In another criminal proceeding for the seizure of state power in relation to Yanukovych, a preventive measure was chosen in the form of detention. And in relation to this decision, the defense is now conducting certain appeal procedures. Yesterday the meeting was postponed, the next one is scheduled for December 28 of this year," the deputy head of the department said.

According to him, after the decision was made to cancel the arrest in absentia, the prosecutor's office appealed to the court to give permission to arrest Yanukovych. "The investigating judge of Pechersky court gave permission, if suspect Yanukovych appears, to detain him and bring him to court to decide on the application of a preventive measure," Ivanov said.