An address by Freedom House and Atlantic Council to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych suggesting that democratic freedoms in the country are being rolled back does not require an answer, said presidential advisor Hanna Herman.
"The question asked by Freedom House is rhetorical and does not call for an answer, as we have said repeatedly that there is no political persecution in Ukraine," Herman said on Channel Five television on Wednesday.
The trials of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko "should not be over-politicized," she said.
"A lot of high-ranking officials are being arrested and put in jail almost daily. The president is pursuing a course toward fighting corruption, and there is no need to make politics out of this," she said.
"It would make sense to calmly wait for the trials to be completed and sentences handed down and to consider these issues from a purely legal perspective," she said.
Freedom House and Atlantic Council had earlier forwarded an address personally to Yanukovych warning him that Ukraine is seeing what they called disturbing trends that could "move Ukraine toward kleptocracy and authoritarianism."
