The following is the statement issued by Ms Julia Kushnir yesterday afternoon. . .
My name is Julia Kushnir, I am 29 years of age and I am a Ukrainian national living in Prague for the last 14 years. I have been attending Charles University, Prague, for the last six years while raising my five- year-old daughter and have gained practical experience while working as a law clerk. I have English, Czech and Russian. I hope to qualify as a lawyer in January of next year.
I came into contact with Mr Lawlor about three months ago and I have, as with other business people here in Prague, acted on occasions as a translator and intermediator.
Mr Ruslan Suliamanov had earlier business dealings with Mr Lawlor here in Prague and is a highly respected CEO of a Russian company.
On October 22nd, while on a visit to Moscow as a translator and an intermediator to the late Mr Liam Lawlor and the late Mr Ruslan Suliamanov, I was involved in a tragic automobile accident which resulted in the deaths of Mr Lawlor and Mr Suliamanov who drove. I escaped with relatively minor injuries.
Mr Suliamanov, who collected us from the airport, was the husband of a dear friend of mine.
While Mr Lawlor was to be dropped off at his hotel, I was to stay with Mr Suliamanov in his family home.
The accident occurred on the way from the airport to Moscow. I was seated in the front passenger seat to be able to speak with Mr Suliamanov as Mr Lawlor did not speak Russian.
A man and a woman ran out in front of the car. We swerved and I have no memory of what followed the crash.
The only thing I remember was waking up in a disoriented state in the ambulance and learning that I was the sole survivor of the accident.
In the course of my professional dealings with Mr Lawlor I found him to be a very friendly man and everybody had great respect for him.
My heart, my prayers and my condolences go out to his entire family, for whom he always showed a deep love and affection.
I would also like to express my great sorrow and condolences to Mr Suliamanov's wife and four young children.
In the days following the accident I thought that nothing could make what happened feel any worse, but I was wrong. I was shocked and disgusted by the stories that appeared in the press.
They were reckless, vengeful and ill corroborated. To that end, I do not believe that they warrant any further attention in this statement.
Since the initial publicity my friends, family and I have been plagued by the press, disrupting our business, personal and private lives. We have all been subjected to the most rigorous, painful and searching scrutiny here in Prague. Since I returned to Prague on the Monday after the accident in Moscow I have not given any media interview.
This did not stop the media from behaving in a most disgraceful manner by printing quotes, supposedly from me, which were made up, false and inaccurate.
I am sorry for what all the Lawlor family and friends had to endure from the media at a time of great sadness and personal loss.
I am happy to be reunited with my family. It is very difficult to burden the weight of being the sole survivor of such a horrific accident that took the lives of two great men. Their families are in my prayers.
I hope that none of my comments will be taken out of context and I would ask the media to leave me alone.
Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues, family and friends for their enormous support. I would like to thank the media that reported the tragic events correctly and the people of Ireland for their messages of support which have been conveyed to me here in Prague.