The charges from Yulia Tymoshenko’s supporters that President Viktor Yanukovych is trying to kill the imprisoned ex-prime minister need to be investigated thoroughly and competently, something that almost never happens in this increasingly undemocratic nation.
Presidential chief of staff Serhiy Lyovochkin, in a briefing with reporters on Jan. 12, vehemently denied the accusations made by Tymoshenko’s bloc after the opposition leader said that she became unconscious on Jan. 6 after being given medication in her Kharkiv prison cell.
The nation’s prison and health authorities say nothing of the kind happened.
These accusations and denials are all the more reason for a transparent probe and for the findings to be made public.
If there’s merit to the Tymoshenko claim, the nation has a scandal on its hands that will rival the Mykola Melnychenko tapes and the 2000 murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
The Melnychenko tapes are hundreds of hours of recordings from a former presidential bodyguard that purportedly catch ex-President Leonid Kuchma and top aides plotting numerous crimes, including Gongadze’s murder.
All charges have been denied; none has been adequately investigated.
There are no rules in Ukraine’s system other than what the prosecutors and their political masters make up as they go along.
But if Tymoshenko is crying wolf and making up bogus and tawdry charges, a competent investigation will expose her and her supporters for the frauds that many think they are.
Sensational accusations are easily made in an environment of Soviet-style secrecy, where prosecutors and prison guards alike have low standards of ethics and transparency.
This is why democratic nations are much more open than Ukraine about how government functions. It is also why prisoner rosters, conditions and visiting hours are clearly spelled out in democratic nations.
People don’t lose their basic rights to humane treatment, even if their freedom of movement is restricted by living behind bars.
It is also why, in democratic nations, each step of the criminal justice process – from the investigation’s start to its conclusion – has strict timelines and accountability procedures for reporting findings to the public.
There are no rules in Ukraine’s system other than what the prosecutors and their political masters make up as they go along.
It is disheartening and frightening that Ukraine, well into the 21st century, remains such a barbaric place.
