KIEV, Feb. 15 - The pressure against Vasyl Onopenko, the head of the Supreme Court, was suddenly eased on Tuesday with prosecutors closing the criminal case against his daughter and releasing his son-in-law from custody.

The moves come a day after Onopenko met President Viktor Yanukovych to offer "exhaustive information" about his family members in a bid to stop the pressure.

The developments underscore the total control over law enforcement agencies that Yanukovych has managed to build over the past 12 months, and his willingness to use it for political purposes.

It also offers a glimpse at how Yanukovych has been achieving loyalty in the legal system, beginning with the reshuffle of the Constitutional Court in September 2010 before it had voted to increase his powers dramatically.

Opposition lawmakers said Yanukovych had been seeking to force Onopenko to step down in order to appoint a more loyal figure - most likely Oleksiy Kivalov - to the post.

The post may become instrumental in the battle for Parliament in October 2012 and perhaps at the next presidential election in March 2015.

Volodymyr Fesenko, the head of the Penta political consultancy, said the meeting between Onopenko and Yanukovych may have focused on a secret deal between the two.

"Of course, this is far from being an example of a classical Western democracy," Fesenko said. "But this is quite in line with our political and legal realities."

"We will soon be able to see what have Onopenko agreed to," he said, adding that the deal may include Onopenko's cooperation with the authorities or his resignation.

Onopenko's home was recently searched by police as part of the investigation against his daughter, Iryna Onopenko, for allegedly failing to repay a $50,000 loan in 2008.

The Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday closed the case after Iryna had "completely repaid the loan, according to the statement from the office.

The prosecutors on Tuesday also released Yevhen Korniychuk, Onopenko's son in law, who was deputy justice minister in the government of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Korniycuk, who is married to Onopenko's another daughter, Lada Onopenko, was arrested on Dec. 24, 2010 fir alleged abuse if power while in office. A court allowed the prosecutors to keep Korniychuk in custody through Feb. 26.

"We wrote a request urging to close the case, because we believe there is no signs of crime," Ihor Fomin, a lawyer defending Korniychuk, said, according to Gazeta.ua. "We have to stay positive on these things." (tl/ez)