Kiev - The Ukrainian state security service (SBU) yesterday denied it had threatened a heart surgeon seeking asylum in Britain who was part of a parliamentary inquiry into the disappearance of an opposition journalist.
"These claims are false," the SBU said in a statement. The security services said that Mr Valery Ivasiuk, who has asked for political asylum, was summoned by the SBU in early January to "explain" his role in a fraud case.
Mr Ivasiuk told the London Independent on Tuesday he fled Kiev on January 21st, after receiving threats from the state security service because of his involvement in the inquiry into the mysterious murder of Internet journalist, Georgy Gongadze. Mr Gongadze's body was discovered in November in woods outside Kiev.