Ukraine’s parliament has been compared to a children’s playground or sandpit many times. You won’t find a faction in Verkhovna Rada that in recent years hasn’t been involved in blocking its work, in filthy verbal or even fist fights.

The mayhem in the Rada on April 27 over ratification of the controversial agreement on the Russian Black Sea Fleet was certainly more extreme, but no less theatrical. It’s not every day that the speaker ducks flying eggs under huge umbrellas (which just happened to be on hand.) Nor, of course, would we wish children to be playing with smoke bombs. However, this circus was followed by events that are much more serious but less talked about.

On May 14 it was announced that the Kyiv prosecutor had initiated a criminal investigation against two deputies from the oppositional Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defence party for their part in the events of April 27. These are Yuriy Hrymchak and Andriy Parubiy. The investigator’s appeal to the Rada for these deputies’ immunity to be removed was supported by the Prosecutor General.

It is extremely difficult to ascertain who was involved in theose April 27 and who in fact initiated the bedlam. There were only 211 deputies registered just half an hour before the vote on ratification of the Black Sea Fleet agreement. However, a total of 236 parliament members (or their voting cards in many cases, despite this being against the law) voted, raising major questions about who was in parliament that day. Photos on some websites (for example, Obkom) show the president’s son, who is not a deputy and some other younger men involved in the brawl. People without the deputy’s mandate are not allowed in the session hall- unless they’re cleaners or fixers.

But the brawl itself seems like a story from distant past, while the opposition deputies are facing criminal charges under article 296 (hooliganism) and articles 28 and 344 (preventing an official from carrying out their duties.) One of the Party of the Regions deputies even suggested that their actions should be classified as “terrorism.”

Certainly Hrymchak and Parubiy were there and they did, seemingly, throw in smoke bombs. What they did was not exemplary behaviour. But nor was causing injuries to another oppositional deputy Oles Doniy, who is still in hospital three weeks later and is said to be in a bad state. But it wasn’t until May 18 that the same Kyiv prosecutor organized a medical examination to determine whether Doniy could be considered a victim – that’s four days after he initiated proceedings against other members of the opposition.

This makes the prosecutor’s statement that all deputies are being questioned, regardless of their party affiliations, somewhat hard to believe.

On may 17 and 18 some members of the ruling coalition continued threatening that Parubiy and Hrymchak would soon be stripped of their immunity. There were also noises coming from Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, suggesting that an “agreement” should be reached. So is it a criminal matter or not?

But amidst these speculations there was a new development on May 18 when Parubiy’s sister Olena was one of three people from the Lviv Tax Inspection who were arrested by the officers of the Department for Fighting Organized Crime on suspicion of bribe-taking. Reports in the media, using information leaked from the authorities, said that she had been caught “red-handed”.

Deputy Head of the President’s Administration Hanna Herman said that Olena Parubiy was released on the same day. She also said that both brother and sister Parubiy are “wonderful people”; that they grew up as orphans, and so forth. She said Herman doesn’t want anyone comparing her own team in power to the “Orange regime who had put us in prison for nothing”.

Criminal investigations, serious injuries and threats to family members of the deputies are no longer playground matter. If there are serious allegations against deputies, they need to be investigated by relevant authorities, not politicians, regardless of ranks and party colors.

The growing conviction that law enforcement and other authorities are being used to settle political scores and intimidate the opposition, is only working to undermine the new regime and damage Ukraine’s reputation.

Halya Coynash is a member of Kharkiv Human Rights Group, www.khpg.org.