BRUSSELS – First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin has admitted that violations of "democratic principles" took place in the case of former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko and explained these violations by drawbacks of the current Ukrainian Criminal Procedure Code, which was adopted in 1961.
"Some violations took place, but democratic principles were violated, and not Ukrainian legislation. The Criminal Procedure Code of 1961 caused these [violations]," Kuzmin said while delivering a speech at a conference on the situation of Tymoshenko in the European Parliament on May 9.
He admitted that "some of its provisions are not in line with European standards, but Ukraine doesn’t have any other code."
Kuzmin cited as an example statistics data, according to which 907,000 people were convicted over the years of the presidency of Viktor Yuschenko and "nothing was done to change the situation."
"We are heading towards Europe, but it was not we who invented it [the Criminal Procedure Code], and we are trying to get rid of this inheritance," he said.
The official said his presence at the European Parliament demonstrated the openness of the Ukrainian authorities.
"We’re ready for an open and fair dialogue, and I’m confirming once again that Ukrainian people are striving for European integration," he added.
In turn, expert of the Danish Helsinki Committee on Human Rights Mikael Lyngbo (Denmark) said that if human rights were violated this means that "Ukrainian law was broken too."
The expert also said that "the persecution of former government officials is politically motivated."
"We’re evaluating the violation of human rights, and not the ‘guilty-not guilty’ aspect. I was surprised to see a number of violations in the sphere of human rights," he added.
Lyngbo said that in the opinion of the European Union, politicians should bear political responsibility.
The expert cited a European politician, who said that a wrong decision could be taken while searching for a way out of a financial crisis.
"Do I have to be imprisoned for this?" Lyngbo said, quoting the politician.
In turn, Kuzmin said the criminal persecution of Tymoshenko has two components – political and legal.
"These [evaluations of the Tymoshenko case by Europeans] are political evaluations of legal facts, while political evaluations are usually made for political goals," Kuzmin said.
The official started reading aloud a list of officials that have undergone criminal prosecution to prove that not only opposition politicians are being put on trial.
"What kind of country is this?" one of those present in the hall said in response.
