A high-ranking Ukrainian regional official was charged today with organizing an acid attack that killed anti-corruption activist Katerina Gandzhyuk, Ukrainian state prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko said.
Lutsenko stated that the speaker of the parliament of the Kherson region, Vladislav Manger, was accused of "organizing the murder of Katerina Gandjuk".
Last July, an assailant threw a liter of sulfuric acid at Katerina Gandžjuk, an adviser to the mayor of Kherson who attacked corruption in the regional police, in front of her apartment.
She succumbed to her injuries four months later at the age of 34.
Six suspects were arrested for the attack, but so far no one has been arrested or charged with ordering the attack.
According to excerpts from the indictment, Manger harbored "personal animosity" toward the victim who often drew attention to "illegal logging of forests under the guise of arson" in the Kherson region.
Manger was a member of the Batkivshina party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, now a candidate in the March 31 presidential election.
He was expelled from the party on Friday after rumors emerged about his possible involvement in Gandjuk's murder.
State prosecutor Lutsenko is considered close to head of state Petro Poroshenko, who will seek a second term in the elections.
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