Ex-ally denies Ukraine leader poisoning

Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:13 PM EDT
advertisement

KIEV — A former friend and ally of the Ukrainian president on Friday denied involvement in his nearly lethal poisoning four years ago and said that the leader's accusations were retribution for criticism.

David Zhvania, a member of the pro-presidential faction in parliament and the godfather of one of President Viktor Yushchenko's children, said he was "absolutely" not involved.

"I am not afraid of anything, I don't have any phobias or concerns — first and foremost, I can easily look my children in the eyes ... and also my colleagues and the whole country," Zhvania said at a news conference.

Yushchenko fell gravely ill during the 2004 presidential campaign and was later diagnosed with dioxin poisoning, which badly scarred his face.

Yushchenko said at a news conference Thursday that he believes Zhvania was involved in the crime. He did not provide evidence for his claim.

After nearly four years the probe has failed to yield tangible results and damaged Yushchenko's image as a strong leader committed to rule of law.

Zhvania recently drew Yushchenko's anger by claiming that the president was not intoxicated with dioxin but came down with a food poisoning.

"It was a human disease," Zhvania said Friday. "A poisoning, food poisoning, pancreatitis — there was nothing else there."

Prosecutors have failed to identify a single suspect in the mysterious poisoning. Yushchenko has consistently said he knew who was responsible for the poisoning, but declined to name them while an investigation continued.

The president has accused Moscow of stalling the investigation by refusing to extradite key figures in the case, including one of the officials who hosted the dinner, and to provide Russian-made dioxin for testing.

Many in Ukraine point the finger at the Kremlin because Yushchenko was running against a Kremlin-backed candidate and because Russia is one of the few countries that produces dioxin of the formula found in Yushchenko's body.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
  • 1 Vote
  • Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.

Back To Top

Published to:

What's this?
Who's leading the conversation?
This visualization below allows you to see the impact that each user has on the current conversation. The top row contains the group of users who have had the most impact, the 2nd row the group of users who have had the 2nd most impact (et cetera). Users with similar impact are grouped together, and the average score of the group is shown to the left of the group. The author of the article is also shown on the left, in their corresponding group. Each user's score is based on the number of comments the user has made plus the number of votes their comments have received. The scores are calculated relative one another, so while their absolute value is not particularly important, their relative difference does indicate a larger difference in impact on the conversation.
0.5
{"commentId":2272878,"authorDomain":"alkimija"}
alkimija

He looks a lot better. I hope they find out who poisoned him and exactly why.

{"commentId":2272878,"threadId":"319161","contentId":"1692716","authorDomain":"alkimija"}
    Reply#1 - Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:21 PM EDT
    {"canLink":false,"threadId":"319161","isPrivate":false}
    Leave a Comment:
    You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
    Newsvine Privacy Statement
    As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.
    {"threadId":"319161","contentId":"1692716"}
    Start TrackingStart Tracking
    Stop TrackingStop Tracking
    Back To Top | Front Page