President Viktor Yanukovych will consider pardoning jailed former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko and advised ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to “think about reimbursing the damage” that she caused to the state by brokering a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
Yanukovych
made the statements during a televised press conference in Kyiv on March 1, while
fielding a question about political prisoners.
“First of
all we have to wait until the court of appeal rules on Lutsenko… Sincerely
speaking, I’ve known Lutsenko for a long time and I feel for him, he is
suffering because of his foolish mistakes with this driver. He wanted to do
what was best but broke the law. Now we have to wait for the court’s ruling… I
will tell you honestly, I am not glad to see him like this. He is in a
difficult situation. If the court of appeal will not reverse the ruling of the
primary court, I will be considering pardoning him,” Yanukovych said.
Tymoshenko,
however, “is a much more complicated case,” Yanukovych said.
“She has to
judicially protect herself. So far she has not been judicially defending
herself… The new criminal code now allows minimizing punishment for economic
crimes. But on one condition – that the damages that the country suffered will
be reimbursed. This is what she has to think about,” Yanukovych said.
Due to
recent legislative changes, some economic crimes have been decriminalized,
which could theoretically serve as the basis for an appeal. However, Tymoshenko
was convicted to seven years in prison under article 364 (abuse of office),
which was not decriminalized under the new criminal code.
Yanukovych
added that he “does not like” seeing Tymoshenko in jail.
“What would
I do now if I were her? First of all, of course she should have thought about
the consequences before. I do not understand what motivations she had to take
this step (brokering the gas deal),” Yanukovych said.
Kyiv
Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected]
