Murderers of Ihor Aleksandrov Remain at Large, Claim Parliamentary Commission Members

This was announced at a December 21 press conference by representatives of the Verkhovna Rada ad hoc investigative committee. People’s Deputies Oleksiy Shekhovtsov and Anatoly Khmeliovy are convinced that the investigation was biased, its results falsified, and law enforcement bodies in cahoots with Donetsk regional criminal organizations. On December 12 Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Serhiy Vynokurov signed a letter of indictment in the murder of Ihor Aleksandrov, director of the TOR Television Company in Slovyansk, and referred it to the Donetsk Court of Appeal. Mr. Vynokurov stated then that the murder had been committed by Yury Verediuk, a person with no permanent place of residence. It was also noted that the investigation had allegedly learned who had hired the killer but refused to divulgel his name.

As Mr. Shekhovtsov, deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada investigating commission, told the press conference, “The Aleksandrov case is a frame-up, the real murderers are still at large, and all the participants in the conflict are trying to hush up the matter altogether.” According to him, “There is every reason to suspect that the investigators are deliberately concealing the real murderers,” thereby becoming “accessories to the crime.” The deputy also emphasized, “The Verkhovna Rada investigating commission knows the faces, first, and last names of the real murderers, but does not want to disclose the source of information for fear that contract killers might silence this source.” As Mr. Shekhovtsov said, Aleksandrov’s family and their lawyer, after acquainting themselves with the investigation materials, refused to accept material compensation from Mr. Verediuk, consider him not guilty. In his turn, Anatoly Khmeliovy, the investigative commission head, emphasized that, even as it follows from the investigation materials, one can conclude with certainty that Verediuk is not guilty, for there are a host of inaccuracies in his testimonies. The parliamentary commission members keep insisting that Aleksandrov, who had come into an open and tough conflict with Donetsk criminals, was a convenient victim, Volodymyr DENYSENKO of The Day reports.