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Poroshenko Proposes Adding International Investigator To Sheremet Slaying Probe


Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko meets with Pavel Sheremet's family in Kyiv on July 11.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko meets with Pavel Sheremet's family in Kyiv on July 11.

KYIV -- President Petro Poroshenko has proposed incorporating an internationally recognized investigator into the Ukrainian team investigating the killing of journalist Pavel Sheremet, in hopes of jumpstarting a probe that has produced no significant leads in a year.

At a July 11 meeting with members of Sheremet's family and a Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) delegation in Kyiv to assess the probe, Poroshenko said he would "happily accept" a "professional, trustworthy" investigator, such as someone "from the FBI or Scotland Yard" to oversee the high-profile case "if it is agreed by the family."

Sheremet, a Belarusian-born journalist, was killed by a car bomb in central Kyiv on July 20, 2016. No one has been arrested or prosecuted.

Sheremet's mother, Lyudmila Sheremet, his daughter, Elizaveta Sheremet, and his partner, Olena Prytula, who is also owner and co-founder of the independent Ukrainian news site Ukrayinska Pravda where Sheremet worked as a columnist -- all of whom were present at the meeting -- accepted the president's proposal.

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