HENCEFORTH TYMOSHENKO WILL ADVERTISE HERSELF
On May 15, the Supreme Court board has confirmed the ruling by the Pechersk District Court freeing Yuliya Tymoshenko from jail. Let it be recalled that (according to the Prosecutor General’s Office) Mrs. Tymoshenko had become especially dangerous
to those in power late last year while still holding the office of vice premier responsible for running the energy sector. The case of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corp., of which Tymoshenko was head and which became allegedly involved in multimillion dollar kickbacks to high officials, has become history. Nonetheless, the case surfaced again late last year. In the final analysis, with the prosecutors hot on her trail, the vice premier soon lost her job and found herself behind bars. Her case proceeded rather slowly and calls of “freedom for Yuliya” calls disseminated by the electronic media to the entire world became an irritant to those in power.
The events linked with Tymoshenko’s release from the Lukyanivska Prison (following the Pechersk Rayon Court ruling), rearrest while in the Medikom Hospital (following the Kyiv City Court decision), and the ruling by the Supreme Court annulling the court verdict on her arrest are still vivid in the memory of those who listen to the radio, watch television, or read the press.
In the time that elapsed, Mrs. Tymoshenko has managed to announce her intent to become president, Verkhovna Rada has passed a vote of no-confidence in the Yushchenko government, and the new opposition has begun to fall apart without even having closed ranks. The defiant former vice premier has again initiated a referendum to impeach the president, vying for leadership of the opposition with another prominent opposition heavyweight, Oleksandr Moroz. Under the pressure of all this, it skipped everyone’s attention that the decision of the Supreme Court to release Yuliya Tymoshenko from arrest might have been canceled by the Supreme Court board. But the latter approved the decision.
Yet, the Prosecutor General’s Office can still file a protest against the Supreme Court board ruling, as the head of PGO state indictment department, Volodymyr Huzyr, explained in his interview with Interfax-Ukraine last Tuesday. “In accordance with the Criminal Code, a prosecutor engaged in such cases is vested with the power to appeal the Supreme Court board decision in a higher oversight body, the plenum of the Supreme Court,” he said. According to Mr. Huzyr, such appeals can be filed by deputy prosecutors general and the prosecutor general himself on condition the legality of the Supreme Court board ruling is called into question.
Simultaneously, the case could be quashed, given the tacit agreement of all parties concerned and with the details of the bargaining kept out of the public eye. This would deal yet another blow to the image of Ukraine, the country where a person can be appointed vice premier, then fired for alleged bygone crimes, with any wrongdoing forgotten in the end. Although it would be more logical to bring the issue to its end, either acquitting the undeservedly accused or proving her alleged crimes.
On the other hand, the image of our court and prosecution can hardly be tainted any further and both agencies will certainly be able to withstand any attacks. Yuliya Tymoshenko, however, will not be able to make use of the illegal harassment claim she has taken on, with no alternative in sight. Yet, there is a way out — to ask [Prosecutor General] Potebenko to put her back in the Lukyanivska jail for a week or two. Lest the people should forget the great martyr Yuliya before the election battles begin.
