Speaker Parubiy: Lifting Immunity from Onyshchenko Will Take 10 Days

Speaker Andriy Parubiy counts on law enforcement agencies not to let MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko out of Ukraine while the Verkhovna Rada is going through the procedure of lifting his immunity, he said on air on 5 Kanal, Interfax Ukraine reports. Parubiy said the parliament will go through the procedure as quickly as the regulations allow. The regulations, for instance, ensure the MP in question has 5 working days to provide a written statement defending himself to the corresponding Verkhovna Rada committee.

Onyshchenko is allegedly a mastermind behind corrupt schemes at the state gas producer Ukrasvudobuvannya (UGV) and is currently under investigation by NABU for misappropriation of state property and organizing a criminal group. NABU has submitted a filing for lifting of immunity, detention and arrest of Onyshchenko to the Prosecutor General’s Office earlier, which has been forwarded to Verkhovna Rada with the approval of Prosecutor General. The filing has the full list of people accused together with Onyshchenko, including his mother.

NABU said previously that there was no legal mechanism to restrict Onyshchenko’s freedom of movement while he still had parliamentary immunity. In his comments to the media the MP claimed he was in Kyiv on Tuesday and Wednesday, while official documents from the State Border Guard Service confirmed otherwise.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda