A European Union fact-finding mission to Ukraine on the cases of imprisoned opposition leaders confirmed Western concerns of unfair justice and improper treatment.
The report, presented in
the EU parliament on Oct. 2, describes an enduring Soviet legacy in
Ukraine’s criminal legislation and the lack of an independent
judiciary, a charge constantly denied by President Viktor Yanukovych.
“The risks of
selectivity and partiality are magnified,” the report concludes as
part of an examination of the convictions of ex-Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko and ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.
“Final verdicts [into
Tymoshenko’s and other opposition politicians’ cases] failed to show
why some evidence favorable to the defense appeared to have not been
taken into account. At the same time, defense motions calling new
witnesses or requests for additional expert evidence or supplementary
evidence ere rejected,” according the report. “These matters lead
to the suspicion that the outcome of such trials effectively may have
been pre-determined.”
It
also points that Tymoshenko, Lutsenko and ex-Acting Defense Minister
Valeriy Ivashchenko – all imprisoned for abuse of office since
Yanukovych took power in 2010 – were often denied medical
treatment in detention.
“Despite the
deteriorating medical conditions of all defendants the court
constantly refused to release them from pre-trial detention. Lengthy
trials were run without breaks, adequate meals or medical care,”
reads the report.
The mission was composed
and launched after the EU parliament and Ukrainian government agreed
to have a European mission composed of reputable independent
personalities, commissioned by the president of the European
Parliament Martin Schultz, to study the cases and come up with their
independent and informed assessment of the issues.
At the beginning of the
mission both the opposition and the government aired their belief
that the mission is credible and would be able to independently study
the cases and make independent conclusions.
Prime Minister Mykola
Azarov in June called the mission the EU’s “first attempt” to
essentially look into former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s case,
since previously no one was trying to looking into it in detail and
go through numerous trial documents.
Tymoshenko was sentenced
on Oct. 11, 2011 to seven years in prison for abuse of office as
prime minister for brokering the January 2009 gas contracts with
Russia.
Lutsenko, Tymoshenko’s
ally in the opposition and a former interior minister in her
government, was also sentenced in February to four years in jail also
for abuse of office.
The West said the trials
were politically motivated and called for the release of Tymoshenko
and other political prisoners.
As a result of selective
persecution and deteriorating democracy in Ukraine, the relations
between the EU and Ukraine has been basically put on hold for almost
a year now.
The mission, composed of
the former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox and former
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, were provided access to all
documents and had an opportunity to talk to Tymoshenko, her lawyers
as well as prosecutors, the government and even President Viktor
Yanukovych.
The text of the report
also speaks of the “increasing international isolation of Ukraine,”
a first so far clear recognition in the European Union that Ukrainian
leadership is not welcome in the West after the jailing of their
political opponents and the failure to make necessary reforms on its
declared path of European integration.
Despite highlighting the
obstacles for Ukraine’s democratic progress, the report gives a bit
of an optimism by raising that the Ukrainian authorities show desire
to overcome current difficulties by inviting this mission and part of
the Ukrainian government is willing to adopt European and
international standards.
The report also welcomed
the new Ukraine’s criminal procedural code, which enters into force
on Nov. 20, which they expect “to decrease the number of pre-trial
detainees by up to 50 percent.”
The report also stresses
that genuine cooperation between the government and the opposition is
needed ”for the full transformative power of Ukraine’s EU relations
to flourish.”
Both Cox and Kwasniewski
previously said the mission will continue after Oct. 28
parliamentary elections in Ukraine.
Kyiv Post staff writer
Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at [email protected]
