Judges of Timoshenko and Lutsenko facing arrest

Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Romanyuk has given his consent to arrest of Sergey Vovk, Oksana Tsarevich, and Viktor Kitsyuk, judges of the Pechersky Court of Kiev - who prosecuted high-profile cases under ex-president Viktor Yanukovych.

Sergey Leshenko, parliamentarian from Petro Poroshenko’s bloc has announced it on Facebook today and published the original documents to prove his words.

“Sergey Vovk, Viktor Kitsyuk, Oksana Tsarevich. Remember the names of these three judges. The Supreme Rada received Chairman Romanyuk’s consent to their arrest on Monday evening. The voting is set for the coming days. If they manage to escape, it will be a failure for all the security services of Ukraine,” the MP wrote on March 3.

Tsarevich was a member of the judicial panel prosecuting the first case of ex-minister of the interior Yuri Lutsenko. Kitsyuk and Tsarevich were court investigators in Yevgeny Sherban’s murder which Yulia Timoshenko was charged with. Vovk was prosecuting Lutsenko’s second case.

New attorney general Viktor Shokin initiated their dismissal from work before the Supreme Qualification Commission of the Judges of Ukraine.

Earlier, Arsen Avakov, Ukraine’s Interior Minister, promised to liquidate that court after the judges refused to jail Alexander Yefremov, former leader of the Party of Regions faction in the Supreme Rada. Yefremov has faced abuse of power charges.

Similar charges were brought against Mikhail Chechetov, former first deputy head of the Party of Regions faction, who committed a suicide a few days ago by jumping out of the window of his apartment at 17^th floor.