Ukraine’s former Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, who has been charged with murder, was released after paying bail on May 21.
The bail was initially set at Hr 14 million but was eventually cut to Hr 2.1 million. Kozhara, who denies the accusations, was arrested in March on charges of murdering businessman Serhiy Starytsky.
In February Starytsky was killed in Kozhara’s house. According to the investigators, he was shot with a Jericho 941 handgun registered to the ex-minister.
The Kyiv prosecutor’s office said that Kozhara and Starytsky were drinking alcohol and started fighting. Kozhara hit Starytsky on the back of the head and then shot him in the head, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In March Kozhara’s wife Maryna Kozerod claimed that she had killed Starytsky. However, she was charged with giving false testimony.
If convicted of the businessman’s murder, Kozhara faces a prison sentence of between seven and 15 years.
The previous police report on Starytsky’s death deemed it a suicide.
Starytsky was the owner of Atlantic Group, a multi-industry holding company, and used to be the CEO of television channel Inter.
In 2012-2014, Kozhara served as foreign minister under ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in the EuroMaidan Revolution in February 2014. The former minister is also deputy head of a minor party called the Socialists.
