Yuschenko poisoning investigation reopens

MPs in Ukraine’s parliament reopened their investigation today into opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko’s mysterious illness after doctors in Austria determined he had been poisoned by dioxin.

The decision by a parliamentary commission followed a similar move by the country’s prosecutor general yesterday. The commission will be led by Volodymyr Sivkovych, an MP who is supporting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Yushchenko’s opponent in the December 26 re-run election for the presidency.

“The results of the most recent expertise in Vienna are giving us grounds to renew our work,” Sivkovych said. “However, we are not convinced that deliberate poisoning can be proved.”

An earlier commission led by Sivkovych investigated the case in October and decided that Yushchenko had suffered a combination of a viral infection and several other diseases.

Prosecutors had closed the investigation before the November 21 second round of voting, saying that they could not determine whether he was poisoned, but reopened it.

Sivkovych urged Yushchenko to immediately hand over results of the tests conducted by doctors in Austria to prosecutors and the parliamentary committee.

Yushchenko praised Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun yesterday for reopening the criminal investigation into his illness, but said he hoped the investigation would be conducted after the re-run because he didn’t want the vote to be influenced “either positively or negatively” by the inquiry.

MPs could still take up the timing of the inquiry and take into consideration Yushchenko’s desire to stall the matter until after the elections. A parliamentary decision is required before the commission actually begins to work.

Sivkovych said he had met with Piskun and said the urgency with which the case was raised suggests all matters would be thoroughly investigated.

Sivkovych refused to comment on “speculation” over who was behind the poisoning, saying that “all those scenarios are more public relations than truth”.

MPs from Yushchenko’s party said the Austrian clinic’s findings confirmed his opponents wanted to assassinate or disable him rather than take the risk he would defeat the Kremlin-backed Yanukovych in the presidential election.

Yanukovych campaigners rejected suggestions that the prime minister could have been involved in the poisoning.