Former Interior Minister of Ukraine and People's Self-Defense Party leader Yuriy Lutsenko, who is currently being held in custody in the detention center, has said he doesn't rule out he will be get acquainted with the materials of a criminal case against him by summer, and it will then be sent to court.
"It’s difficult to say for sure, but I can proceed from the fact that over two weeks I have been aquatinted with six out of 47 volumes. Or to be more precise, I have taken notes from them, as the investigation refuses to allow me to photograph the documents. This means the acquaintance will take about three-and-a-half months. However, this is an optimistic forecast," Lutsenko said in an interview with the Kyiv Post newspaper published on Wednesday.
At the same time, he noted that the investigation could restart investigative actions or "artificially prolong" the term of his custody.
As reported, Lutsenko has been held in Lukyanivka jail since Dec. 26, 2010. He was charged under Part 5, Article 191 (large-scale embezzlement of state property through the abuse of office, in collusion with a group of individuals), Part 3, Article 365 (the abuse of office, which led to grave consequences), and Part 3, Article 364 (the abuse of power and office by a law enforcer, which caused damage to citizens’ rights as protected by the law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On Jan. 28, the pre-trail investigation into the criminal case against Lutsenko and three more former officials of the ministry evaluated the damage caused by them to the state at over Hr 970,000.
On February 16, Pechersk District Court of Kyiv extended the former minister’s arrest by two more months, until April 26.
