Ukrainian prosecutors on Wednesday requested the extradition from the Czech Republic of a former Cabinet member who has been charged with abuse of office, the latest ally of ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko to face criminal investigation.
Czech authorities detained former Economics Minister Bohdan Danylyshin late Monday in Prague on an international arrest warrant issued by Ukraine, said police spokeswoman Pavla Kopecka.
Four other senior officials in the former Tymoshenko government have been investigated and detained since President Viktor Yanukovych came to power in February. Others, including Tymoshenko, have been summoned for questioning.
A Czech court will have to rule on Danylyshin’s extradition and Kopecka said the procedure may take months.
Ukraine put Danylyshin on the wanted list in August for allegedly causing 13.9 million hryvna ($1.77 million; €1.29 million) in damage to the state by failing to hire a cheaper contractor for Kyiv’s international airport.
Tymoshenko and Yanukovych are longtime foes. Tymoshenko was the central figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution that threw out Yanukovych’s fraud-tainted election victory.
She served as prime minister in the Orange government, but Yanukovych defeated her in the February presidential race and his allies in parliament later ousted her as premier.
Tymoshenko’s party claims Danylyshin’s arrest is part of a "witch-hunt" of the opposition by Yanukovych’s government.
The party issued a veiled appeal to the Czech Republic not to extradite Danylyshin to Ukraine and charging that the criminal case against him is based on falsified material.
The statement said Tymoshenko’s party "hopes that democratic countries would not take part in a political lynching of the opponents of the current Ukrainian authorities."
