The head of Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) Yuriy Lutsenko said the case against former President Viktor Yanukovych for exceeding his authority vis-a-vis Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) Metropolitan Volodymyr (now deceased) is ready.
“During the course of the pretrial investigation enough evidence proving Yanukovych’s involvement in the crime pursuant to Part 2 of Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has been collected. On November 16, 2016 an official notice of suspicion was prepared and steps are being taken to acquaint Yanukovych with evidence in the case,” the PGO’s press service said.
The PGO’s press service said the bureau for investigating crimes committed by criminal organizations is in charge of the pretrial investigation pursuant to Part 2 of Article 146 (kidnapping) and Part 1 of Article 365 (exceeding authority or grants of authority by a law-enforcement organ) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine based on Ukraine’s Criminal Code. This concerns Yanukovych and former Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, current parliament deputy Vadym Novynsky, former Kyiv Police Chief Valeriy Koriak, as well as other employees of Kyiv’s law-enforcement agencies. The men are suspected of holding Metropolitan of Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky Oleksandr Drabynko, the personal aide of Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), against his will.
Lutsenko during a sitting of the parliament’s rules committee on Nov. 16 talked about the suspected role of Yanukovych in the crime: “Yanukovych attempted to appoint his allies to high church posts. Without means to legally replace Sabodan, Yanukovych decided to force Sabodan to abdicate … and to appoint Metropolitan of Boryspil and Brovary Antoniy (Pakanych) as a replacement … in order for the latter to influence the mood in the society.”
Lutsenko said Yanukovych ordered Novynsky “to force Volodymyr to abdicate.”
The PGO head said Zakharchenko, in turn, ordered Koriak to collect information about people close to Metropolitan Volodymyr. Ukraine’s former Interior Minister was supposed to illegally detain Bishop Oleksandr (Drabynko), which would have forced the head of the church to resign from his position.
According to Lutsenko, Zakharchenko forced Drabynko to write a statement requesting security from the court police unit Gryfon. Koriak, in turn, granted the request and “isolated Drabynko.”
The security detail turned into a convoy, Lutsenko said.
Koriak then “gave Gryfon the order” to keep Drabynko in the Opera Hotel, that is, kept him against his will there, and later moved Drabynko to another location.
In addition, Zakharchenko demanded Drabynko to urge Volodymyr to resign.
“All these events are backed by up witness testimony,” Lutsenko said, adding that on Sept. 5, 2013 there was a meeting between Yanukovych, Novynsky, Metropolitan Volodymyr and Drabynko, during which “Yanukovych tasked Novynsky with keeping Drabynko in confinement. Novynsky agreed to obey the instructions.”
“Novynsky is well aware of the difference between a security detail and prisoner guards,” the prosecutor said.
According to Lutsenko, from September 2013 through December 2013 Novynsky reported by telephone information about the whereabouts of Drabynko (some 40 calls were made from Novynsky’s telephone to Koriak).
