Ukrainian Lawmaker Wanted By Interpol On Cambodia Request

Ukrainian lawmaker Mykola Knyazhytskiy has been added to Interpol's wanted list after a request from Cambodian authorities.

Media reports on March 23 said Cambodian officials accuse Knyazhytskiy of raping a teenager in Phnom Penh on September 9, 2011.

Ukraine's Espreso.tv television channel quoted Knyazhytskiy as denying the charges, saying he was in Kyiv on the day of the claimed rape.

Knyazhytskiy is a former chairman of Espreso.tv's editorial board.

The Kyiv Interpol office said on March 23 it has requested the detailed information on the alleged incident from Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, France.

Knyazhytskiy said "the false" accusations must have been linked to his stance against Russian television shows being shown in Ukraine, adding that he had received anonymous threats regarding his position.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Knyazhytskiy has filed a request to investigate the threats.

The deputy chief of the Interpol working group in Kyiv, Mykhaylo Bakhmutchenko, told reporters that Ukraine does not extradite its citizens to other countries.

Based on reporting by UNIAN and Espreso.tv