You're reading: Council of Europe: Parliamentary elections in Ukraine could be recognized unfair

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland has said that the parliamentary elections in Ukraine, scheduled for October 28, could be declared unfair and called on Kyiv to implement the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, Deutsche Welle has reported.

In his opinion, the fact that the elections in Ukraine will be held
without Ukraine’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko
could lead to protests. In addition, “there is a risk that these
elections will not be recognized as free and fair,” Jagland said in an
interview with Der Tagesspiegel.

He also said that he had talked about this with Ukraine’s leadership.

Speaking about possible consequences for Ukraine due to the decision
of the ECHR that recognized a number of human rights violations during
the arrest and detention of Lutsenko, Jagland said he expected Ukraine
to observe the court decision.

“Every country that is a member of the Council of Europe should
implement the decisions of the [European] Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg,” he said.

When asked what would happen if Ukraine does not execute the court
ruling, Jagland noted that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had
openly stated that ECHR judgments in the case of Lutsenko and Tymoshenko
would be fulfilled.

“For that reason I don’t want to talk about sanctions – that would be counterproductive,” Jagland said.

As reported, Lutsenko’s defense team earlier challenged the
ex-minister’s arrest at the ECHR. On July 3, the court issued a ruling
declaring that the arrest of Lutsenko was a violation of his human
rights. Moreover, the court ordered the Ukrainian authorities to pay EUR
15,000 to Lutsenko as compensation for moral damages.

Ukraine had three months to appeal this decision. In early October
2012, the government filed a motion to review the ECHR decision in the
case of Lutsenko versus Ukraine.