Renat Kuzmin
Former First Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin claims that a billion-dollar bribe was paid to dismiss the criminal case against Leonid Kuchma in the murder of Georgiy Gonadze.
He stated this on the 1+1 TV channel on Thursday evening.
"In 2013, we received information that an unprecedented billion-dollar bribe had been paid to close the criminal case against Leonid Kuchma. It also became known that some witnesses and participants in the case had also received hush money," Kuzmin said.
( Read more about him in the article Renat Kuzmin: The Family Business of Outlaw Prosecutors )
"The package of agreements with the previous government included my dismissal from the prosecutor's office and criminal prosecution on trumped-up charges. We wanted to verify this information through investigation, but we didn't have time," he said.
Although he did not comment in any way on the fact that after this dismissal from the Prosecutor General's Office, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council until March 5, 2014.
Moreover, Kuzmin stated that Kuchma and his “family” have such great influence in Ukraine and in the world that few in the country can compete with him.
"This family has always influenced President Yanukovych. Many opposition figures know the role Kuchma and their son-in-law played in their own lives. Therefore, I will say that this family continues to try to influence all important events in Ukraine. That's why Kuchma hasn't been summoned to court. Unfortunately, there are few politicians in Ukraine who don't allow this family to exert pressure on them. I hope Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk can resist this pressure," he said.
"Melnichenko's tapes contain everything the prosecutor and judge need to examine the case and make the correct procedural decision," he said, adding that materials regarding Kuchma were ready for the court and the investigation into the "instigators" was continuing.
"Based on the criminal case materials, former President Kuchma, former head of the administration, and former speaker of parliament Lytvyn were investigated for involvement in this murder," Kuzmin said.
As is known, Kuzmin was the First Deputy Prosecutor General and oversaw the most high-profile cases, including the Gongadze murder case and the prosecution of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko.
On June 27, 2014, Kuzmin was placed on the wanted list, including internationally. A pretrial investigation is underway against Kuzmin on suspicion of orchestrating the illegal detention of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko in 2010 and inciting a judge of the Pechersky District Court in Kyiv to order his pretrial detention.
As is known, Kuchma is currently Ukraine's representative at the Minsk talks regarding the situation in Donbas.
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