Ukainian state prosecutors say they do not intend the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to be questioned in a criminal case against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to Yuri Boychenko, spokesman for the General Prosecutor’s Office.
"This is not true" – he said.
“Tymoshenko’s lawyer Bohdan Ferents called himself and assured that he gave such information nobody" – he said.
"We declare to all who wants to intervene into process of criminal investigation this is criminal responsibility provided for such actions", – he added.
Earlier the defense lawyer for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on April 13 told journalists that Putin will be questioned as a witness in a criminal case involving the January 2009 gas deal signed between Ukraine and Russia.
"When prosecutors presented the formal criminal charges against Tymoshenko, we asked the investigator Nechvolglod whether Putin would be questioned in connection with the case. He replied as follows: ‘Putin will definitely be questioned in the near future because without his testimony it will be difficult to bring the case to court," Tymoshenko’s press service quoted Bahenets as saying, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Ferents said he doubed that the decision to questioned Putin was made independently by prosecutors.
"We know by experience that all decisions regarding this case are taken in [President] Yanukovych’s office," he was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian prosecutors announced on April 11 that they were opening a criminal case against Tymoshenko for signing the controversial gas deal. Putin is presently in Kyiv on a 3-day official visit.
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