At the other end of the spectrum of injustice, others – “mazhory,” or children of the elite – are among those in Ukraine who get away with serious crimes, including murder, because they’re too powerful and rich to be punished in this society.
Details of these cases hit the spotlight if the crime is particularly egregious, such as the murder of 18-year-old Oksana Makar, who died nearly three weeks after three men raped, strangled and burned her in March in the southern city of Mykolayiv.
But most cases go unnoticed because the victims are powerless against a massively corrupt judicial system, which bends to those who hold political power.
Two stories in this week’s edition alone show the depth of the problem.
Svitlana Tuchynska’s front-page story “Innocent Man Spends 7 Years In Prison” details the sad saga of Maksym Dmytrenko and five other men wrongly convicted of murders that were committed by mass murderer Serhiy Tkach of Polohy in Zaporizhia Oblast. All were tortured to extract confessions, prosecutors later admitted.
While the belated recognition of injustice is a sign of progress, Dmytrenko languished six years in prison even after law enforcement knew of his innocence – simply because no one cared enough to make the system work until his eventual release on March 22.
Those who wonder why Tymoshenko’s conviction for abuse-of-office and subsequent seven-year prison sentence gets so much attention should bear in mind that she is simply the leading international symbol of a deeply troubled nation.
The most shocking statistic in the story comes from the respected Kharkiv Human Rights Group, which says that only 100 people were found innocent out of 150,000 cases heard in court in 2011.
In many cases, people are not convicted because they are actually guilty, but rather because police and prosecutors have manufactured evidence to clear the case – and have no trouble finding compliant judges to go along.
Also, in an opinion published on page 5, Ukrainian journalist Mykola Riabchuk keeps track of unpunished or lightly punished crimes allegedly committed by the nation’s elite and their offspring. “They have captured the state like an alien army, and can pillage it now as they wish,” Riabchuk wrote.
Those who wonder why Tymoshenko’s conviction for abuse-of-office and subsequent seven-year prison sentence gets so much attention should bear in mind that she is simply the leading international symbol of a deeply troubled nation.
The administration is also steamrolling ahead in its determination to imprison ex-Tymoshenko allies. Former acting Defense Minister Valery Ivashchenko was sentenced to five years in prison after the catch-all “abuse of office” conviction.
The world must continue to condemn these and all violations of human rights.
