General Prosecutor Vitaliy Yarema sparked controversy Tuesday when he announced Interpol had refused to place ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and six leading members of his former government on its international wanted list because it feared the case was politically motivated.
Though Yanukovych was last seen in Russia where he is unlikely to be arrested in any case, building a solid case against him and other officials accused of responsibility for killing protesters on Maidan is seen as a major test for the new government.
“They are government criminals, essentially murderers, and for us it also isn’t clear why these people aren’t included on the international wanted list,” advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Zorian Shkiriak told the Kyiv Post.
Yarema’s announcement has the various branches of Ukrainian law enforcement furiously pointing fingers at each other as they squirm to avoid responsibility for the apparent failure.
Serhiy Pashynsky, head of national security and defense committee, sees fault lying with the General Prosecutor’s Office as well as the central office of Interpol located in Lyon, France.
“This is a question for Interpol and the General Prosecutor’s Office why they didn’t manage to do this,” he said.
A representative from Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon could not be reached for immediate comment, and the General Prosecutor’s Office now appears to be back-pedalling on Yarema’s earlier statement.
Deputy General Prosecutor Vitaliy Kasko insisted: “[Interpol] didn’t decline the requests, their legal department is studying the question but it is a very long process.”
He argued the fault does not lie with the General Prosecutor’s Office and told the Kyiv Post that they have travelled to Lyon to meet Interpol and provide them with all additional documents they requested. He blamed the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is responsible for the Ukrainian branch of Interpol and coordinating with Interpol’s headquarters, for not providing the documents earlier.
Kyrilo Kulykov, Head of the Ukrainian branch of Interpol from 2005-2007, believes Interpol’s limititations have been exploited by Yanukovych’s team. He says Interpol has a mandate to prevent cases that appear to be politically, racially or religiously motivated from making it onto the list.
“For sure I believe there is a strong team of legal associates working for Yanukovych and his team and they are bombarding Interpol with all kinds of letters saying this is political prosecution and this is not a case Interpol should go with,” he said.
Ukraine is no stranger to politically motivated justice, with Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko imprisoned from 2011 to 2014 under what were widely considered to be politically motivated charges orchestrated by Yanukovych.
Adding Yanukovych to the international wanted list would require any of Interpol’s 190 member countries to detain him and inform Ukraine of his presence to begin extradition proceedings. Ukraine is a party to the European Convention on Extradition that 50 countries are a party to, including Russia.
On Dec. 10 President Petro Poroshenko Bloc deputy and former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko proposed the Rada send a written appeal to Interpol to add Yanukovych to the international wanted list.
“I know how decisions are made at Interpol. Very often it refers to a letter from other countries about the political nature of the prosecution. These cases come in,” he said.
