Yanukovych, Lavrynovych suspected of seizing state power

"On the basis of the collected evidence, a notification of suspicion under Part 1, Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine [actions aimed at the violent change or overthrow of the constitutional order or the seizure of state power] has been submitted to former President Yanukovych and former Justice Minister Lavrynovych in committing, together with other persons, the seizure of state power, including by taking measures regarding the illegal change of the current Constitution of Ukraine, without the decision of the single legislative body in Ukraine - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, through the inclusion in the single state register of normative legal acts of the text of the Constitution of Ukraine in the wording of 1996 and its official publication," Lutsenko said.

He recalled that the Department of Special Investigations of the Prosecutor General's Office was investigating the case of a constitutional coup of 2010, which led to the seizure of state power by expanding the powers of the Ukrainian president in an unconstitutional way, due to the narrowing of the role and powers of the parliament and government.

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