In a controversial decision likely to cause further tensions between Ukraine and the West, a high court in Ukraine stripped top opposition member Serhiy Vlasenko off his parliamentary immunity – opening the way, some fear, to his arrest on some pretext.
The High Administrative Court in Kyiv ruled on March 6 that Vlasenko combined his parliamentary job with the duties as a lawyer, violating a number of laws and the Constitution.
The appeal to strip him of immunity was filed by Speaker Volodymyr Rybak and was approved unanimously by a panel of five judges at the High Administrative Court. It cannot be appealed in Ukraine.
Vlasenko has been the top defender and trustee of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who is in the second year of a seven-year prison sentence for signing a gas deal with Russia in 2009 while in power.
The Ukrainian authorities have already been given a number of warnings against pursuing a case against Vlasenko. Several top European and US officials made statements on March 5 against using the legal system for further political prosecutions.
In particular, High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Stefan Fuele of the European Union on March 5 called on the Ukrainian authorities “to address this situation so as to avoid creating any perception of misuse of the judiciary for political purposes. “
The U.S. State Department chimed in, saying that the lawsuit to strip Vlasenko of his seat and immunity in parliament, as well as an earlier ban from travel “appear to be politically motivated due to his connection with Mrs. Tymoshenko.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also warned Ukraine’s ambassador about the case, according to German media. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said they took note of warnings.
The actions by Ukraine’s friends in the West indicate that the lawsuit will move the nation further from signing the association agreement with the EU later this year, one of the conditions for which is to stop political prosecutions and fix the legal system.
Moreover, the opposition has argued that the whole case against Vlasenko was built up with massive violations of procedures. For example, the committee on ethics and rules of procedure, which issued a ruling dated Feb. 27 to strip Vlasenko of his deputy mandate, failed to produce any evidence that it gathered on the day.
Leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna Party Arseniy Yatseniuk said on March 5 that only five of 17 members of the commission were in Kyiv on the day when their meeting allegedly took place. Party of Regions representatives, who hold the majority in the commission, refuted the accusations.
Vlasenko’s case has paralyzed the work of Ukraine’s parliament for the last two days. The three oppositional factions have been blocking the work of the Rada demanding to call off the lawsuit, which was passed on to court by Speaker Rybak on Feb. 27.
After the High Administrative Court decision was announced, Yatseniuk said the opposition will appeal it in the European Court for Human Rights.
Kyiv Post editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected].
