Yulia Tymoshenko’s defenders have warned Petro Kyrychenko - the prosecution’s so-called "key witness" in the Yevhen Shcherban murder case - about the criminal penalties for lying under oath and aiding in the organization of a crime, according to official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
Petro Kyrychenko refused to answer when the Yulia Tymoshenko’s defense counsel Andriy Kozhemyakin asked him whether he acknowledges that he was an accomplice in the assassination of Yevhen Shcherban given that he admitted that he delivered money to crime boss Oleksandr Milchenko and introduced him to former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko.
The prosecution’s witness for the second time during his interrogation invoked Article 63 of the Constitution of Ukraine which states that "a person shall not bear responsibility for refusing to testify or to provide explanations about himself, members of his family, or close relatives."
Petro Kyrychenko also evoked this constitutional provision when questioned about his wife Isabella’s arrest in Kyiv, their property and the closure of criminal cases against him.
Petro Kyrychenko was interrogated several time by US law enforcement officials in the Pavlo Lazarenko case and answered questions about the murder of Yevhen Shcherban, but never mentioned Yulia Tymoshenko's name.
Petro Kyrychenko changed his testimony after his wife was detained in Kyiv. After he gave testimony against Yulia Tymoshenko, his wife was released and their bank accounts and property were unfrozen.
