Petro Melnyk has been placed on the wanted list of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes neighboring Russia, Belarus and Moldova, news wire UNIAN reported citing the press service of the Interior Ministry.
Information related to the former rector of the Ukrainian Tax University,
according to UNIAN, was placed in a database and sent to the nine ex-Soviet
member countries, besides Ukraine of the CIS.
Facing criminal charges for accepting $15,000 to enroll two students to
the Tax University and up to 10 years in prison if found guilty, Melnyk escaped
from house arrest on Aug. 9, the same day prosecutors filed a motion in court
to have him put behind bars.
He was detained in his university office on July 27 in the town of Irpin
just northwest of Kyiv. Citing heart-related health problems, Melnyk on Aug. 1 was
allowed to stay under house arrest by a Kyiv court, while police attached an
electronic monitor wrist bracelet on Aug. 7.
On Aug. 12, the Kyiv Pechersk District Court ruled in favor of
prosecutors to place Melnyk behind bars.
On Aug.
11 the Kyiv Oblast prosecutor’s office said they launched a criminal case for
official negligence against the police officers in charge of electronically
monitoring Melnyk.
“The
(preliminary) audit found a number of irregularities in the actions of
officials who carry out such control at the remote monitoring station,” reads
the Kyiv Oblast prosecutor’s statement. “In particular, these individuals did
not promptly react to the bracelet’s alarm signal, improperly determined the
cause and circumstances of this, and did not ensure timely action to determine
the location of the person (who was being electronically monitored and under
house arrest).”
The
police officers face between two to five years in prison if found guilty.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached
at [email protected].
