If anyone needs any more evidence that Ukraine’s criminal justice system is broken and riddled with corruption, President Viktor Yanukovych provided it.
In an interview with CNN on Jan. 20 that was picked up by major Ukrainian news outlets, Yanukovych turned the basic principle of presumption of innocence on its head. Referring to the ongoing criminal investigations against ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, he said: “Yulia Tymoshenko will have a chance to protect herself [in court], and I’m one of those who want this to happen. I would like her to prove that the charges brought against her are false.”
If Yanukovych cannot even get the basic principle of jurisprudence straight, there is no hope for a fair and balanced court system, with independent courts, prosecutors, jurors and police. The president went on to tell journalists that a court ruling cannot be questioned and that this means the correctness of both acquittal and conviction. “If the court finds her guilty, she will be punished like any other person,” Yanukovych said.
Then the president went on to contradict himself. Journalists quoted him as recognizing the shortcomings of the current judicial system in Ukraine. “We still have to reform the judicial system in order to fight corruption,” Yanukovych said. The comments show that Yanukovych does not grasp democratic principles of justice, as he recognizes that Ukraine’s judicial system is untrustworthy.
Furthermore, the record needs to be set straight about who shares responsibility for any misspending that Tymoshenko may be guilty of. She is being charged with paying pensions using funds that were raised under the Kyoto Protocol while serving as prime minister during the 2009 world economic crisis. If Tymoshenko is guilty of this, she was forced into it by Yanukovych and then-President Viktor Yushchenko. They worked in tandem to sabotage her cash-starved government ahead of a hotly contested presidential election, cutting it off from International Monetary Fund and central bank aid.
She is far from a saint. But in this case, she was cornered and had little room for maneuver. Not only would failure to pay pensions be illegal, it could have sparked nationwide panic, further hurting Ukraine’s already fragile state finances.
