The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has arrested Olena Lukash who held the post of justice minister during the rule of former president Viktor Yanukovych, SBU spokesperson Olena Hitlyanska said.
“At 3 p.m. we announced a briefing regarding the arrest of Olena Lukash, who was on the wanted list for involvement in the crimes against Maidan [protestors],” Hitlianska wrote on her Facebook account.
Lukash was the justice minister in 2013-2014 during the government of Mykola Azarov. She was dismissed on Feb. 27, 2014.
On Feb. 28, 2014, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) ordered the Interior Ministry and SBU to arrest Lukash on suspicion of shooting activists on Maidan in Kyiv through Feb. 18-22.
In March, the EU and Canada announced that Lukash was on the list of senior Ukrainian officials subject to financial sanctions.
On May 28, 2015 the PGO accused Lukash of misappropriation and property embezzlement through abuse of office.
The corresponding information has been posted on the official website of Interior Ministry.
According to the website, Lukash has been on the wanted list since July 28, 2015.
She was accused of committing an offence under Article 191, Part 5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement of property or misappropriation through abuse of office), and of official forgery (Part 2, Article 366 of the Criminal Code).
On Sept. 10, 2015 the SBU put Lukash on the wanted list, and according to media reports at the time she was hiding in Russia.
