Former Health Minister of Ukraine Raisa Bohatyrova, detained at Zhuliany airport on August 27, has pledged at the court session that she will cooperate with investigators.
“I completely back everything that was said by my lawyers. I only today received the copy of the suspicion note. I did not know before today what this actually is about,” she said.
The former minister of Viktor Yanukovych’s administration said that she went abroad from Ukraine many months before prosecution bodies launched a criminal investigation against her.
“And one cannot say that I was avoiding the investigation,” she said.
“I did not stay in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for a single day,” Bohatyrova said.
“Outside Ukraine,” she answered, when asked by judge Svitlana Smyk whether she had been in Ukraine or abroad from 2014 until August 27 this year.
“I returned after my rehabilitation course was over in order to face the trial,” she added, putting it clear in comments on her return that she underwent a treatment course. Bohatyriova vowed that she will abide by the summons of the investigator and asked the court to decline the motion for custody as a pretrial restriction.
It was reported later on Aug. 28 that MP аrom the Opposition Bloc Vadym Novinsky stands ready to pay a Hr 6 million bail for Bohatyrova.
“Vadym Novinsky will pay the bail,” former Ukrainian Justice Minister Olena Lukash told reporters after the court session.
As reported, Bohatyriova returned to the country and was immediately transferred to the officers of the Ukrainian National Police. Bohatyriova is charged with the gross embezzlement of public funds in Ukraine.
