You're reading: Pshonka: Yanukovych is not godfather of my son

Viktor Pshonka, the new prosecutor general, held a rare press conference on Nov. 1, during which he did not talk about many of Ukraine’s long-festering unsolved crimes – such as the unsolved murders of journalist Georgiy Gongadze in 2000 and Ihor Oleksandrov in 2001.

Aside from discussing his priorities and asserting his independence from his patron, President Viktor Yanukovych, Pshonka quelled a personal rumor that the president is the godfather of his son, Artem.

“President Viktor Yanukovych is not the godfather of my son Artem, who was born in 1976,” said Pshonka. “The president and I first met and began working together in 1997, when I became Donetsk regional prosecutor and Yanukovych was appointed governor.”

The 56-year old Pshonka said 2010 marks his 30th year working as a prosecutor in Ukraine. He said the prosecutor general’s office will act independently, according to the Constitution and laws, and not involve itself in politics.

Pshonka stressed that his comments about his loyalty to the president aired on Nov. 6 by Inter TV pertained to presidential initiatives to improve the system of criminal justice in the country.

“We are already working shoulder to shoulder with the Presidential Administration, Interior Ministry and State Security Service to draft a new Criminal Procedural Code and a new Law on the Prosecutor General’s office,” he said.

However, a number of the most active cases appear to be against former members of the government of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, voted out of office this year after losing the Feb. 7 presidential election to Yanukovych.

Pshonka defended charges leveled against former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, saying such cases would be investigated and adjudicated without political bias.

“Let’s take a brief look at just at the facts in Lutsenko case. Lutsenko had a driver? Yes, he had a driver. Did this driver work previously for the Interior Ministry? No, he was not an employee of the Interior Ministry. Did officials falsify his work record at the Interior Ministry [so he could get a pension]? Yes, this was done. The main investigation bureau of the prosecutor general’s office has opened a criminal investigation, as required by law. And this has nothing to do with politics,” Pshonka said.

He added that former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov has been questioned as a witness in the case.

State prosecutors accused Lutsenko on Nov. 5 with colluding with his driver and authorizing giving him an extra pension to amounting to about $5,000), a charge Lutsenko says is politically motivated.

Pshonka said that on Nov. 15 he would appoint new deputy prosecutor generals.