Popular opposition leader says unnamed political opponents have sought to "eliminate" him
claimed Oct. 24 he and lawmakers from his bloc have received politically motivated death threats.
Speaking about pressure upon opposition lawmakers at a conference, the leader of parliament’s largest bloc said unnamed political opponents had sought to “eliminate” him, according to a statement.
“Killers have already come, and then events ensued can’t be considered a joke,” Yushchenko was quoted as saying.
Yushchenko claimed some 40 criminal investigations have been launched into death threats received by lawmakers from his bloc since the March 2002 parliamentary elections. His Our Ukraine faction won the bulk of the popular vote.
Tensions peaked in March when Yushchenko joined forces with Ukraine’s more vehement opposition leaders to lead tens of thousands of protesters in a downtown march calling for scandal-tainted President Leonid Kuchma to resign.
Kuchma’s critics have accused him of widespread abuse of office, vote tampering and muzzling the press.
