In a move
that merely confirms the political nature of new charges against Tymoshenko,
Deputy Prosecutor General Rinat Kuzmin penned an open letter to the U.S. Senate
protesting the former prime minister’s guilt and her alleged role in the murder
of four people. His missive was slammed by Hryhoriy Nemyria, deputy head of
Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party. Nemyria pointed out how Kuzmin’s conduct
falls well short of an independent prosecutor and reinforces the political
nature of a vendetta against the former premier.

The
resolution
, which was authored by senators James Inhofe (R-OK) and Dick Durbin
(D-IL), was passed on Sept. 22 by the U.S. Senate. It noted that Tymoshenko was
a pro-Western reformer and condemned “the selective and politically motivated
prosecution and imprisonment” of the former prime minister. It calls on the
government of Ukraine to release Tymoshenko from prison; provide her timely
access to medical care, and to conduct the October parliamentary elections in a
fair and transparent manner. Also, it recommended that the State Department
introduce a visa ban on those responsible for her imprisonment and
mistreatment.

Although
the resolution is only a recommendation, its shockwaves reverberated through
Kyiv.

At first
the regime dismissed it
, saying that it was hard to take seriously and noting
it was non-binding. Later, officials hinted that it was passed by senators paid
for by the opposition. Then on Oct. 2 Kuzmin poured petrol on the fire by
taking the unusual step of writing an open letter to the Senate, saying that
senators were misinformed and arguing the case for the continued investigation
of Tymoshenko for an alleged involvement in the murder of Yevhen Shcherban, an
MP and businessman, who was shot along with his wife and two others at Donetsk
airport in 1996.

In April
this year, Serhiy Vlasenko, Tymoshenko’s lawyer, described the suggestion of a
link to the Shcherban murder as “absolutely absurd.” He added, “This so-called
accusation is on the level with accusing her of killing [US president John F] Kennedy.”

 

Beyond The Pale

Kuzmin’s
letter goes as far as saying “Yulia Tymoshenko inflicted heavy, perhaps
irreparable damage, which affected the morale of the nation.” He even likens
the need to press ahead with a criminal case against s Tymoshenko to U.S.
prosecutors wanting to investigate the al Qaeda plotters behind 9/11.

In a 3
October statement from the United Opposition, Nemyria condemned the conduct of Kuzmin,
noting that he was in breach of several fundamental provisions in the “Draft Code
of Professional Conduct of the International Association of Prosecutors.” He
noted that the code requires prosecutors to “Be and appear to be consistent,
impartial, objective, and independent.”

Nemyria
added: “But how can a prosecutor who roams the world denouncing Tymoshenko, who
writes public and open letters to legislative bodies such as the US Senate, and
engages on public platforms to denounce a person that he has brought criminal
charges against maintain impartiality? 
He cannot, and Kuzmin does not even attempt to do so.”

 

Kuzmin’s Impartiality?

Indeed, Kuzmin
appears to have over stepped the impartiality line before. Earlier this year,
the PR company Burson-Marsteller, which is retained by the Party of Regions,
arranged media interviews for the supposedly impartial state employee to
justify the continued criminal cases against Tymoshenko.

The
EUobserver (www.euobserver.com) highlighted
the issue reporting that another PR company wrote to the UK Crown Prosecution
Service to ask if Burson-Marsteller was in violation of the UK Bribery Act, as Kuzmin
appeared to be getting “PR benefit from the Party of Regions.”

At the
time, Nemyria told the EUobserver that the Party of Regions-Kuzmin link
violates Kuzmin’s status as an independent jurist. “It’s just one more
confirmation that this is a political case and that Kuzmin is a loyal servant
of President Yanukovych,” he said.

Summing up Kuzmin’s
letter to the U.S. Senate, Nemyria, said: “It is a blatant attempt to smear a
defendant internationally, nothing more.” He concluded by saying: “That so
mendacious an attempt to influence American opinion was even attempted suggests
the contempt which Ukraine’s rulers hold for true democratic representatives.”

Neil Pattie of London-based Ridge Consulting is
a former PR advisor to Ukraine’s jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and
her Batkivshchyna political party.