Last Thursday, President Viktor Yushchenko dismissed Svyatoslav Piskun, the country's top prosecutor, but the order was defied by Interior Minister Vasyl Tsushko, who sent riot police into the building to defend the prosecutor, while he remained in his office as protestors gathered outside.
"I am sure that this is a serious crime," Yushchenko said. "This was an act for which the interior minister should be personally called for account."
Earlier Wednesday, national news agency UNIAN agency reported that Tsushko, 44, had been hospitalized after a heart attack.
Viktor Shemchuk, appointed last week by the president as acting prosecutor, said he had already launched criminal proceedings against Tsushko, but Piskun denied the statement.
Yushchnko and his archrival Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych finally agreed early Sunday to hold snap parliamentary elections on September 30, in a bid to end the political crisis simmering since the president dismissed parliament April 2.
But bickering between the pro-premier and pro-presidential factions is continuing threatening to upset the latest deal and prolong the crisis in the ex-Soviet nation.
