A Ukrainian opposition leader has reintroduced a bill that may lead to the release of jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko this year if it becomes law.
The categories of convicts that the Amnesty in 2012 draft law would
apply to include those who have been imprisoned under the Criminal Code
articles that were used to send Tymoshenko and Lutsenko to jail.
The draft law, introduced by Arseniy Yatseniuk, leader of the Front
of Change party and a member of the board of Batkivschyna United
Opposition, is an alternative to an amnesty bill put before parliament
by the government.
The amnesty proposed by Yatseniuk would make it possible to “have
political prisoners released” and enable them to take part in upcoming
parliamentary elections, Front of Change said in a statement on
Wednesday.
It would mandate the release of convicts who would pose no serious
public danger if released, those who represent socially vulnerable
strata, including minors, the elderly, pregnant women, and the disabled,
and those incarcerated under laws that permit dual interpretations.
