Ukraine’s new prosecutor general

Viktor Pshonka, candidate for prosecutor general of Ukraine, was supported by the constitutional majority, receiving 292 votes “for” in the Verkhovna Rada. In fact, his appointment was sure from the outset. On November 3, the Ukrainian parliament’s pertinent committee unanimously voted for his candidacy. Even before the vote in parliament, most MPs addressed him as Mr. Prosecutor General, and shared with him their problems and complaints about arbitrary rule. BYuT’s member Yavorivsky asked Pshonka to help the Writers’ Union of Ukraine get rid of bureaucratic pressure. Serhii Mishchenko (former prosecutor of Kyiv oblast) addressed the VR audience, clad in dress uniform, saying, “I believe that Viktor Pshonka will soon head the prosecutor general’s office, and that this man will be like a real father for his office children.”

It is also true that not all BYuT people were impressed by the new appointment, Deputy Speaker Mykola Tomenko called into question Pshonka’s unbiased attitude, considering his Donetsk origin and affiliation: “It’s clearly apparent that Viktor Pshonka is the president’s man, in addition to his Donetsk background. Therefore the new Prosecutor General of Ukraine will apparently act as desired by the president, rather than the law.”

People’s Self-Defense’s (NS) Taras Stetskiv accused the Party of Regions (PoR) in general, and Viktor Yanukovych in particular, of having privatized political power: “From now on, they will have the prosecutor general as [another] puppet on their strings, considering that they have already all courts of law, even the Verkhovna Rada, under control. Tomorrow Gazprom will step into the cabinet’s office and everything will be OK.”

Upon leaving the parliament, the Party of Regions’ MPs celebrated yet another victory. “A very important event has just taken place in the Verkhovna Rada,” declared PoR leader Oleksandr Yefremov.

The president signed an edict appointing Pshonka as prosecutor general of Ukraine within thirty minutes of the VR vote. Toward the evening it transpired that Renat Kuzmin had been appointed as first deputy prosecutor general. Pshonka declared he had accepted Viktor Kudriavtsev’s resignation as deputy prosecutor general.

Political analysts point to Pshonka’s appointment as yet another meet-you-halfway move made to depoliticize the office. “Viktor Pshonka is a compromise, between Renat Kuzmin, who has long sought the prosecutor general’s post, and Oleksandr Medvedko who is backed by powerful forces, albeit varying and conflicted. Here one starts with opposition and ends with wielding power. Pshonka is a compromise decision. The president relied on the same principle when selecting the prime minister; it was a compromise reached between various influential groups that were taking part in the power play,” says political analyst Viktor Nebozhenko.

Now the big question is what kind of tasks the president assigns to Pshonka. Most likely, finalizing the case of abuse of office by Yulia Tymoshenko’s government, started by the audit findings provided by Trout Cacheris PLLC (Washington).

Pshonka promised to shortly solve the case of the missing Kharkiv journalist, Vasyl Klymentiev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Novy styl (The New Style).

One thing is clear: being prosecutor general of a country that has experienced so many politically misguided and mismanaged privatization campaigns is easier said than done. This rank and position requires character, in order to maneuver between all the clans.

COMMENTARY

Oleksandr BUKALOV, head of the human rights organization Donetsk Memorial:

“I think the newly appointed prosecutor general, Viktor Pshonka, belongs to the Donetsk law enforcement family. For these people the corporate interests of those who have helped them up the ladder are over and above an unbiased approach in protecting and upholding the rule of law. Mind you, I’m not saying that this man is lacking professionally. Not at all. Pshonka is a true professional, with a solid academic background. Still, it doesn’t seem likely that, after having served in Kramatorsk, with its local racket acting hand in glove with local authorities, then in Donetsk, he will suddenly emerge as a prosecutor general resolved to fight corruption, hostile takeovers, violations of human rights, and other chronic ills of Ukrainian society. Only our Lord can work wonders.

“How will this appointment affect our region? You know, I have worked in human rights for the past decade. During this period, I have been able to register the ‘hallmarks’ of the Donetsk Prosecutor Office’s people. They are loath to respond to official inquiries concerning certain human rights cases. If pressed, they claim an official response has been mailed, so if you don’t have it, blame the postal service. Looks like we’ll be hearing even more answering machine responses in the near future.”

The Day’s FACT FILE

Viktor Pshonka was born 1954. He began his professional career as an investigating officer in 1980. Appointed later as prosecutor of Kramatorsk; head of Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office (1998-2003) while Viktor Yanukovych remained governor of Donetsk oblast. Pshonka was first appointed as deputy prosecutor general of Ukraine in November 2003. In late 2006, as prosecutor general Medvedko’s second in command, he was responsible for supervising law enforcement agencies’ field officers’ performance, pre-trial investigations. He was appointed as first deputy prosecutor general in June 2010, replacing Serhii Vinokurov, who became a member of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. Pshonka is a member of Supreme Council of Justice of Ukraine.