Ukraine president pardons two Yulia Tymoshenko allies
President Viktor Yanukovych signed a decree to pardon former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko, 48, who is serving a four-year sentence on charges of abuse of office and embezzlement. He also pardoned former environment minister, Heorhiy Filipchuk, who was also imprisoned for abuse of office.
Ukraine’s president on Sunday pardoned two former government ministers who are allies of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, moving toward fulfilling a key demand on Kiev’s path to integrate closer with the European Union.
President Viktor Yanukovych signed a decree to pardon former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko, 48, who is serving a four-year sentence on charges of abuse of office and embezzlement. Lutsenko’s health has deteriorated since his arrest in early 2010, his supporters and doctors said.
The move came after the presidential commission on pardons recommended it to Yanukovych. He also pardoned another Tymoshenko ally, the former environment minister, Heorhiy Filipchuk, who was also imprisoned for abuse of office.
Tymoshenko is serving a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2011 of abuse of office.
The West insists the cases are politically motivated. The European Union has warned that it will not sign a key cooperation agreement with Kiev until those two cases are resolved. Yanukovych also needs Western support as he tries to secure a US$15 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The EU’s enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fuele, said on his Twitter feed that the pardons for Lutsenko and Filipchuk were a “first but important step.”