Lazarenko moved to San Francisco (03/21/99)

Lazarenko moved to San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO - Pavlo Lazarenko, former prime minister of Ukraine, who was detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as he sought to enter the U.S. on February 19, has been relocated from an INS facility in New York to one in San Francisco, where hearings on his request for political asylum will continue.

The change of venue allows Mr. Lazarenko to be closer to his family, now staying in the San Francisco area.

Through his San Francisco-based attorney and his Boston-based communications counsel, Mr. Lazarenko issued a statement to the news media in which stated, in part:

"On March 12 in New York, before an immigration judge, I reaffirmed my desire to seek political asylum in the U.S. I am thankful to the immigration judge for granting my request for a change of venue from New York to San Francisco so I can be close to my wife and children, who are living in the Bay area. This relocation will allow me an opportunity to work more closely with my legal counsel to better prepare for my political asylum hearing. It will also give me a chance to spend time with my wife and children, whom I dearly miss. At this point, no date has been set for my full political asylum hearing. When that hearing is held, I will have an opportunity to fully present my case. I remain confident that once U.S. officials have a clear understanding of all the facts in this matter they will grant my request."

The statement, which was disseminated by the PR Newswire, also refuted press reports circulating in Ukraine that Mr. Lazarenko had been denied political asylum in the U.S.

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