You're reading: Ukraine prosecutor general says request sent for Yanukovych extradition

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Vitaly Yarema said he has asked his Russian counterpart Yury Chaika to extradite Viktor Yanukovych and his "accomplices" to Ukraine.

“I have asked Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to extradite them to Ukraine,” Yarema said in the Verkhovna Rada on Feb. 6.

Yarema said the adoption by the parliament of the law on legal proceedings held in absentia and conviction in absentia will make it possible to send to court the criminal cases against Yanukovych and his “accomplices.”

“The legislation on criminal procedure until recently did not allow sending cases to court. Now that we have passed a law on legal proceedings held in absentia and conviction in absentia we have begun relevant work,” Yarema said.

Yarema said it has recently been announced that Yanukovych is suspected of having organized a criminal group.

“We will send cases to court and subject them to liability within the framework of these legal proceedings,” Yarema said.