Editor's Note: The following is a statement issued on Aug. 9 by the pro-presidential Party of Regions explaining its position on the Aug. 5 arrest of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and why she is on trial.
Some politicians in Ukraine and abroad call the Ukrainian government to stop the trial against former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, finding political motivesin it. Some apologists represent the former head of the government as a fighter against corruption and a sample of democracy.
Is this true? And how can one restore the legal order in the country, when calling the executive authorities to interfere in affairs of judicial power? Why are these politicians afraid to establish the truth in an open and public trial? And is there any reason to stop legitimate lawsuit?
The answer is no – if to be guided by interests of people and rule of law, inevitability of legal assessment of actions, detrimental to Ukraine.
The point is not in power, but in justice.
Tymoshenko is being judged because in 2009 she forged the documents of national importance – the directives of the Cabinet of Ministers on negotiations with the Russian party and signing the contract on gas supply and transit of gas from the Russian Federation. In these directives the government, accountable to people, determines: what gas price Ukraine can agree, what price on gas transit through its territory should be, what volumes of gas Ukraine is planning to consume and so on.
When making a faked document ex-prime minister knew that the Ukrainian government had refused to support the content of written by her directives, because the conditions of gas supply and transit, determined there, were extremely disadvantageous and discriminatory for Ukraine.
However, according to Tymoshenko’s instructions, the forged document titled "Directives", was produced, signed personally by her and a seal of the Cabinet of Ministers was attached.
Using this fake, Tymoshenko made the leaders of "Naftogaz Ukraine" to sign the agreement, providing dramatic, unjustified increase in gas prices since 2010 and onerous conditions, depriving Ukraine for 10 years of the possibility to cancel the agreement.
Implementation of this agreement led to increase in utility tariffs for all Ukrainian citizens, increase in prices on manufactured goods and foodstuffs, losses and stop of entire industries; thousands of people lost their salaries. Ukraine’s economy and state budget suffered multibillion losses.
It is indisputable facts, which Yulia Tymoshenko herself fails to deny.
Only court can examine objectively the facts and give legal assessment of acts of ex-prime minister, which led to serious consequences for the country.
All other, except judicial, conclusions and estimates are just politically motivated.
At the same time, only court is entitled to take all necessary legal steps to establish the truth, including measures against the accused, who delays the process, prevents consideration of the case in fact, cynically insults the court and witnesses.In any democratic country, obstruction to justice, no matter where they come from, are considered as a serious offense.
I would like to ask those European politicians who are worried about the arrest of Yulia Tymoshenko: how would the court in your countries act against the accused, who threatened the judge and witnesses, showed defiant contempt of court? Surely, the court would take adequate measures.
And now few comments on the attempts to present Yulia Tymoshenko as a fighter against corruption and a defender of democracy.
Obviously disadvantageous to one side terms of agreement, by definition, include corruption risks. Especially, when the accused has a definite reputation: it is enough to remind the decision of the U.S. Court in the case of the former partner of Yulia Tymoshenko Pavlo Lazarenko, in which Ms. Tymoshenko was named as accomplice of corruptionist. You may also remember decisions of Russian courts on corruption in the Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation in connection with the activities of Tymoshenko’s company "United Energy Systems of Ukraine", and numerous corruption scandals, associated with Tymoshenko’s government – for example, the purchase of drugs against influenza through a chain of middlemen at higher prices or unusable emergency’s vehicles.
What kind of defense of democracy one can say, if the conditions of the gas contract signed in Moscow, were kept secret not only from the opposition, but also from acting at that time president and parliament of the country? The terms of this contract became known to the public only after Tymoshenko’s government was dismissed. What kind of democracy you can speak if the prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko at the Cabinet of Ministers session on August 12, 2009 instructed the ministers: "Dear friends! If we perfectly, the word for word fulfilled the law, we generally would not move forward."
In such circumstances, the whole society is interested in an independent judiciary; society has a right to demand fair trial.
And that is why no one – neither politicians nor media, nor various organizations have the right to exert pressure on the court.
