By Victor ZAMYATIN, The Day
"I want to deny press reports, now circulating in Ukraine and Russia, that
the US immigration and naturalization service has denied me the political
asylum that I requested," says Pavlo Lazarenko's statement spread by the
American media.
The date of hearing his case at a San Francisco court has not yet been
set, according to Mr. Lazarenko himself, but his request is under consideration.
In reality, the Ukrainian leadership was denied extradition of Mr. Lazarenko.
False rumors are being circulated in Ukraine by forces which want to discredit
Lazarenko himself and the Hromada party, the ex-premier's statement says.
This, threatens Mr. Lazarenko, will not remain unanswered.
As The Day has already reported, last Tuesday chief of the consular
department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Victor Kyryk said
that a first-instance court in New York had denied Mr. Lazarenko political
asylum in the USA, and it was decided to transfer him to San Francisco
pending a decision on his deportation. Mr. Lazarenko's wife and children
are there now.
The question of whether the information is reliable even came up when
Mr. Lazarenko was detained in Switzerland. At that time, Ukraine in fact
lost the case, in spite of all efforts, for the Hromada leader was released
on huge bail. This case was not dropped, but the Swiss prosecutor of the
Lazarenko affair does not seem worried much about further developments,
though he says he definitely wants to attend the trial in the US. Mr. Lazarenko's
lawyers both in Switzerland and the United States are certain only that
the situation will develop favorably for their client (and for themselves).
Mr. Lazarenko continues to insist that his case is political and the charges
leveled against him by the Ukrainian side are totally groundless and that
nobody can pressure the American officials who are the only ones capable
of putting an end to this story.
Representatives of the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office keep silent.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made an official statement, allowing
Mr. Kyryk to read out a document mentioning no sources. What is known for
sure is that now Mr. Lazarenko categorically refuses, as he did in Swiss
custody, to see the Consul-General of Ukraine and rejects any other contacts
with Ukrainian officials. On its part, Hromada asserts that it maintains
uninterrupted communication with Mr. Lazarenko and his lawyers. However,
when the Swiss case began, Hromada members vehemently denied the very fact
of Mr. Lazarenko's detention, let alone his Panamanian passport, also on
the basis of allegedly reliable information.
What seems most reliable is that the US will not extradite Mr. Lazarenko
to Ukraine. At least, not now. Under American law, all information is confidential
until the final judicial ruling. Mr. Lazarenko's lawyers seem to be able
to convince the US courts that their client now faces real danger in Ukraine,
while nobody, even President Clinton, is authorized to pressure the American
court.






