Ukraine Detains MP Over Parliament Attack Plot: Prosecutor
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 22, 2018 | 09:02 PM
Ukrainian MP Nadiya Savchenko, once hailed as a symbol of resistance against Russia, was detained on Thursday over accusations she plotted a terrorist attack in Kiev, authorities said.
Kiev, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Mar, 2018 ) :Ukrainian MP Nadiya Savchenko, once hailed as a symbol of resistance against Russia, was detained on Thursday over accusations she plotted a terrorist attack in Kiev, authorities said.
"She was detained after the prosecutor general read out her indictment," the prosecutor's spokesman Andriy Lysenko told AFP by phone hours after lawmakers voted to lift Savchenko's immunity from prosecution.
Savchenko had planned "a large-scale terrorist act in the centre of the Ukrainian capital," general prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko told lawmakers in parliament earlier. He claimed she had made a deal with leaders of Russian-backed separatist republics in the country's east to "obtain the weapons necessary for such an attack, in particular mortars of 120 mm caliber, small arms, sniper rifles, combat grenades".
Lutsenko said the planned attack would have brought a "sea of blood, chaos" to central Kiev. He showed lawmakers a 30-minute video of a woman who looked like Savchenko talking to two apparently Ukrainian officers about plans to attack parliament.
"I propose a coup d'etat, they should be eliminated physically, all of them in one moment," said a woman resembling Savchenko in the video, before drawing a plan of parliament to explain where to throw grenades inside the building to create an explosion.
"Just one person can do it in a minute and a half...I myself will certainly be able to throw six grenades," the woman in the video said. Savchenko was present in the chamber during the video broadcast and watched it with a smile, but did not provide any explanation.
The parliament approved lifting Savchenko's immunity from prosecution as an MP and, in a separate vote, authorised her arrest by 268 votes to 10, minutes after Lutsenko's speech. In 2014, the 36-year-old former combat pilot was captured while fighting against Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and found guilty of involvement in the killing of two Russian journalists in the country's war-torn east.
She spent around two years in a Russian prison and became a symbol of Ukraine's resistance, launching several hunger strikes. Savchenko returned to a hero's welcome to Kiev in May, 2016 as part of a prisoner swap with Russia.
But her political star has faded since her return to Kiev, where she became a lawmaker for former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's political party. She has regularly stirred controversy and contradicted President Petro Poroshenko's policies by supporting direct talks with pro-Kremlin separatists and visiting rebel-held territory.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
PTI to stage nationwide protests against alleged electoral frauds
Senate continues discussion on Presidential address to Joint Sitting of Parliame ..
Masood Khan calls for Pak-US cooperation for regional peace
Interior Minister starts Margalla Trail Patrol for security
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 26 April 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 26 April 2024
ICC Womens T20 World Cup Qualifier, Match 2: Ireland Women open with Comfortable ..
Robinson, bowlers help New Zealand go 2-1 up against Pakistan
Shahzeb Chachar to hold khuli kachehri on April 26
Heatwave amid Israel's aggression in Gaza brings new misery, disease risk
Tourism must change, mayor says as Venice launches entry fee
Court adjourns Judicial Complex attack case till May 17
More Stories From World
-
Golf: PGA Zurich Classic of New Orleans scores
5 minutes ago -
Cybersecurity firm Darktrace accepts $5 bn takeover
25 minutes ago -
Clean energy drives massive BHP takeover bid
55 minutes ago -
Copper price tops $10,000 for first time in two years
1 hour ago -
Ukraine agriculture minister held for alleged corruption
1 hour ago -
China calls Germany spy claims 'pure fabrication'
2 hours ago
-
Singapore expects 1-3 pct growth this year
2 hours ago -
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index rises over 5 pct
2 hours ago -
New Zealand business sector R&D expenditure hits 2.21 bln USD
2 hours ago -
3 dead after mini car falls into west Japan paddy field
2 hours ago -
Chinese shares higher at midday Friday
2 hours ago -
Myanmar plans to export 2,000 tons of coffee in 2024-25 fiscal year
2 hours ago