"I am officially in London," - fugitive MP Onyshchenko

Volia Narodu parliamentary group MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko states he is currently in London, UK.

He wrote it in a post his Facebook page, which post was subsequently deleted after several minutes, Censor.NET informs citing Ukrainski Novyny.

"I am officially in London. Totally legally and within legal free travel regulations. It is here that I am ready to undergo all required legal procedures, with participation of a credible international law firm, to prove my innocence of anything," he wrote.

According to Onyshchenko, he is ready to protect his rights in the UK.

The MP has confirmed that he stopped in Russia for a while, and the trip was not related to political or economic controversies.

Earlier, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) raided the office of MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko March 16. The NABU stated that the searches were carried out under the pretrial investigation of criminal case initiated into abuse of office during sale of the natural gas jointly extracted with Ukrhazvydobuvannia SE.

The NABU requested t he Prosecutor General's Office to lift the immunity of people's deputy Oleksandr Onyshchenko in June.

On June 16, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yurii Lutsenko drafted a motion requesting the Verkhovna Rada's consent for criminal prosecution, detention, and pretrial confinement of MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko. The Procedural Committee of the parliament allowed considering the withdrawal of parliamentary immunity of MP Onyshchenko on June 29.

On July 5, the parliament approved detention and arrest of people's deputy Onyshchenko.

The SAP submitted Onyshchenko's indictment for Lutsenko's approval July 14. However, the prosecutor general instructed the agency to revise it.