Two Ukrainian MPs suspected of treason – Venediktova

Two Ukrainian lawmakers are suspected of treason and attempted embezzlement of national resources in Crimea, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said.

She announced this on her Facebook page.

"I inform the public that today I put my signature on suspicion notices for two people's deputies of the Ukrainian parliament – M and K [the first letters of their surnames]. My colleagues from law enforcement agencies did a lot of investigation, received many expert opinions and questioned valuable witnesses during the pretrial investigation. The work was carried out effectively. We did everything we could to keep the information in a vacuum," Venediktova wrote.

She said that based on the results of the study of the collected materials in the case, she came to the conclusion that it was necessary to take responsibility to declare these "parliamentarians" suspects.

"I believe that the investigation and prosecutors have so far received sufficient grounds to change their status from witnesses to suspects. Thus, MPs M and K are suspected of treason and attempted embezzlement of national resources in the Ukrainian Crimea," Venediktova said.

"The location of MP M has not been established after the searches, so the SBU [the Security Service of Ukraine] is taking the necessary measures to locate him and hand him a detention order," she said.

On May 11, the SBU searched the house of Viktor Medvedchuk, the chairman of the political council of the Opposition Platform – For Life party.

"Searches are taking place. More detailed information will be provided later," the SBU's press service said.

European Solidarity MP Oleksiy Honcharenko wrote on Facebook on April 3 that the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) had launched criminal proceedings against MPs Viktor Medvedchuk and Taras Kozak from the Opposition Platform – For Life party on charges of treason.