Vitaliy Kasko, 38, was appointed deputy prosecutor general for international legal cooperation in May 2014, bringing his extensive experience to the job and raising expectations at a time when the duties of his office are more exacting - and more closely watched - than before.
Now very much in the spotlight, he is in charge of international cooperation in criminal proceedings against former Ukrainian officials who fled the country, leaving more than 100 demonstrators killed in their wake. And he has successfully built international support for asset-freeze extensions against former top officials suspected of plundering Ukraine’s treasury.
On March 5, the European Union agreed to a one-year extension for asset freezes of former President Viktor Yanukovych and 13 of his allies suspected of stealing from Ukraine. Kasko also negotiated three-month extensions for freezing the assets of former justice and education ministers and of Yanukovych’s son.
Kasko is gratified by these successes, since his office has been facing serious challenges.
Since the EU first imposed sanctions on March 18, “media reports have warned several times that the sanctions would be lifted.” Kasko says. “However, it did not happen due to our cooperation with the EU. Along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we beat the odds. We communicated with the EU nearly every day.”
However, he adds: “Unfortunately our efforts were leveled by the inactivity of investigators.”
Kasko says his department within the General Prosecutor’s Office is badly hampered by absence of effective legal mechanisms to work with investigators.
“We do not conduct investigations and lack the instruments to influence investigators,” he says. “I am deprived of the right even to have a glance at their cases. The law forbids this. The only mechanism or involvement (in an investigation) is to explain to them the possible consequences of a protracted investigation and the inactivity of investigative agencies.”
“We proceed from the premise of provided material,” he says.
Kasko believes the only way to improve investigative agencies is to rebuild them from scratch.
He said that during the era of Yanukovych’s top prosecutor, Viktor Pshonka from 2010-2014, “the purpose of investigation was ultimately mutilated. It worked mostly on corrupt or framed cases. Investigators were not oriented at collecting legitimate and admissible evidence and taking a winning case to court. Rather, they waited for a head of an office to give them a green light to close a case. Under these circumstances, it is necessary either to re-train or fire all of them.”
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Pshonka, who is suspected of involvement in the murders of EuroMaidan Revolution demonstrators and embezzlement, among other suspected crimes.
Kasko is responsible for high-profile extradition cases.
One of them involves Yuriy Kolobov, Ukraine’s former finance minister, who was recently arrested in Spain. While the formal process of extradition takes time, Kasko is optimistic that the Kobolov’s extradition will take place.
Kasko believes that most of the former top-ranked Ukrainian officials wanted by the Prosecutor General’s Office are in Russia, whose own officials are not likely to extradite them to Ukraine.
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Vilkul (L) and Minister of Finance of Ukraine Yuriy Kolobov (R) in Presidential Administration on Oct. 21, 2013 in Kyiv. (UNIAN)
For trying criminal cases against those outside Ukraine, Kasko believes a year is enough to lodge criminal proceedings.
“We developed and implemented a procedure of consideration of a case in absentia that is in line with European standards and the practices of the European Court of Human Rights,” he says.
The law contains necessary procedural guarantees, including for notifications about trials and for the right of convicted individuals to new trials if they appear later before the court.
Kasko views hiring more and new personnel as clear priorities. A new department heads need to be put in position and similar measures need to be put in place in the regional prosecutor’s offices.
Kasko also would like to see better and more transparent mechanisms developed and implemented for investigating prosecutors via the new National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
“Whichever name the Prosecutor General’s Office will pick for the department responsible for investigating prosecutors, it is a clear conflict of interest,” he says. “A prosecutor will not investigate cases against prosecutors in good faith. Even if he does, Ukrainian society is not likely to trust him.”
Kasko has extensive experience within the Prosecutor General’s Office, including service as an investigator and deputy chief investigator. He took a hiatus from the department during Pshonka’s time as head, during which time he worked at the Arzinger law firm.
When asked to comment on the turmoil within the General Prosecutor’s Office and the resignation of Vitaliy Yarema as prosecutor general in February, Kasko says the problem lies both in the individuals and the system.
“I have been a deputy during the terms of three prosecutors general already – (Oleg) Mahnitskyy, (Vitaliy) Yarema, and (Viktor) Shokin,” says Kasko about the turnover in the top job over the last year. “Until we change the system – and we are up to it – even the most outstanding person won’t be able to change the situation radically.”
