Ukraine Arrests Former Interior Minister

[tfcrew]

Sunday, December 26th, 2010 
Ukrainian authorities have arrested the country's former interior minister, as the government deepens its corruption investigation into the Cabinet of former leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2010/12/26/ukraine-arrests-former-interior-minister/

[ECOCKS]

Expect it to get worse.

[Jack]

I wonder who is going to arrest Yanukovich for his part in trying to steal the election leading up to the Orange revolution as well his attempt to poison the front runner and eventual President, Yushchenko.

This is part of Yanukovich's attempt to discredit his greatest challenge in the next Presidential election

[Boethius]

Tymoshenko is also under house arrest.

I wonder who is going to arrest Yanukovich for his part in trying to steal the election leading up to the Orange revolution as well his attempt to poison the front runner and eventual President, Yushchenko.

Yes, there were irregularities and ballot stuffing in previous elections, though not in the last election.  However, Yanukovych was not responsible for poisoning Yushchenko.

I knew the host of the sushi dinner where Yushchenko was allegedly "poisoned".  He was a friend of my husband's, I first met him in the 1980's, even stayed at his apartment when it was too late to call a cab.  He has since died, as has everyone else who was at that dinner.  None of their deaths were from natural causes.  Part of the host's testimony before he died was where he ordered dinner from, and that everyone ate the same dishes, and drank from the same bottles.  A test of Yushchenko's blood by a lab in Austria many years ago failed to find digoxin (reported by Ukraine's media long before Yanukovych came to power), and Yushchenko has refused to submit for further independent testing.

This is part of Yanukovich's attempt to discredit his greatest challenge in the next Presidential election

I disagree.  Tymoshenko is, in fact, a thief, and a pretty brazen one at that.

[Nat]

I disagree.  Tymoshenko is, in fact, a thief, and a pretty brazen one at that.

She isn't accused of a theft, she's accused of the fact that she spent some "ecological money" to pay pensions during economic crisis. A very heavy crime indeed.

[ECOCKS]

1. GY, YT, YL, VY, pick any of the top tier, they are all crooked to greater or lesser degrees.

2. It's a portion of the personality cult struggle which is using the courts, media and public perception for political purposes.

3. Yanukovich may or may not have poisoned DY but he and his thuggees definitely should have been fully investigated for their roles in the election irregularities.

4. Ukraine is slipping backward as the political powers note the success of Puty and his crew as well as the results of the drama that Belarus went through. Expect it to attempt a new level in gamesmanship in the next year or two.

[Shadow]

She isn't accused of a theft, she's accused of the fact that she spent some "ecological money" to pay pensions during economic crisis. A very heavy crime indeed.

Yeah, you got to keep paying your own pension in crisis times, as in politics you may need it rather young.  

[Boethius]

I wasn't referring to the crime she is charged with.  I made a statement of fact.  However, Nat, do you know any person in Ukraine who received a pension in dollars?

And I really don't remember Timoshenko buying a 17 mil dollars helicopter and flying there and back every day to work from the other end of Ukraine spending state money on this "commuting".

Tymoshenko used state money to fund her campaign.  How many billions has she stolen from the people directly, by selling state paid for gas, or indirectly from her "sugar" scheme, her H1N1 scheme, etc.?  

Yushchenko is also no better.  He has stolen priceless pieces of art from Ukrainian museums.  My husband recognized a couple pieces, which were housed at the Kiev State Museum, and which were loaned by Yushchenko from his "personal collection" which was exhibited across North America.

Finally, I am not saying Yanukovych's gang is any better.  I think at the time Yushchenko was elected, it was a necessity because of electoral fraud.

[Shadow]

Ah well Ukraine can always ask Georgia for advice on how to keep the people silent. 

[Nat]

However, Nat, do you know any person in Ukraine who received a pension in dollars?

What for? To have to convert them in hryvnas before being able to buy something?

Yuschenko wasn't a very clever politic, Timoshenko of course had her own agendas. And may be you could find somebody more effective than them. But they never ever created laws which would destroy middle class and make oligarchs lives tax free. Vice versa - they abolished some laws which had previously been implemented by Yanukovich. Corruption still existed, but it was being fought on so many levels that people who were used to taking bribes kept complaining and complaining on that "orange gang". It's a pity that Ukraine isn't used to thinking and keeps believing everything which is said on TV.

[Boethius]

What for? To have to convert them in hryvnas before being able to buy something?

Tymoshenko and her cronies have asserted the funds received from Japan were used to pay pensions.  As far as I know, no pensioner received dollars.  Furthermore, the money for pensions was sitting in the state treasury.  So, what happened to the dollars?

[Nat]

Tymoshenko and her cronies have asserted the funds received from Japan were used to pay pensions.  As far as I know, no pensioner received dollars.  Furthermore, the money for pensions was sitting in the state treasury.  So, what happened to the dollars?

Wow, you know things which we don't know here in Ukraine Where do you get that information?

[Boethius]

All of this has been reported in Ukrainian papers, Nat.  Tymoshenko hasn't denied receiving the Japanese funds.  In fact, she is the one who has stated the funds were used to pay pensions.  It is fairly common knowledge in Kyiv, as well, at least, among my in laws.

[Nat]

All of this has been reported in Ukrainian papers, Nat.  Tymoshenko hasn't denied receiving the Japanese funds.  In fact, she is the one who has stated the funds were used to pay pensions.  It is fairly common knowledge in Kyiv, as well, at least, among my in laws.

Oh, Ukrainian papers... I see...

[Boethius]

Interesting that you dismissed my in laws, Nat.  One of them runs one of Ukraine's biggest banks.  He was very tied to the Yushchenko/Tymoshenko clique.  After the election, he was "on the run" for a while, but he's returned, and is still running the bank.  His name has been in the paper quite a bit over the past 10 months or so.  He is, my husband would say "wooden headed", and obtained his position not because of any merit or ability, but through connections.

You can dismiss all you want, Nat.  We do have internet, and telephones.

Our last family visit to Ukraine was in August, and although Tymoshenko had not been charged, much of this information was already known to those who are observant and interested.

[Boethius]

Plus, all of these matters under investigation have been, or are being audited by an independent forensic accounting firm, based out of Washington D.C.