Thanks to an appeals court ruling this week, ex-President Leonid Kuchma is a free man. It looks like he will avoid standing trial despite mountains of evidence that has piled up for more than a decade that links him to the Sept. 16, 2000 kidnapping and brutal murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze.
In contrast, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, President Viktor Yanukovych’s most feared rival, remains imprisoned thanks to a rushed one-year investigation and half-year hearing where the main piece of evidence was nothing more than a photocopy of an order she allegedly gave a subordinate. The original was never produced. Key defense evidence and arguments were ignored.
As Kuchma enjoys a luxurious lifestyle thanks to a fortune built up under his crony capitalistic rule by a billionaire son-in-law, Tymoshenko may be facing additional criminal charges.
As Kuchma enjoys a luxurious lifestyle thanks to a fortune built up under his crony capitalistic rule by a billionaire son-in-law, Tymoshenko may be facing additional criminal charges – including for the 1996 murder of lawmaker Yevhen Shcherban – that also appear to be weaved together with questionable evidence, that smack of “selective justice” and are condemned internationally as politically-motivated show trials.
The nation’s highest appeals court on June 26 upheld lower court rulings that order prosecutors to drop criminal charges that linked Kuchma – the former boss of Yanukovych who also despised and allegedly had Tymoshenko briefly jailed back in 2001 – to Gongadze’s murder. According to the court, the evidence – witnesses, including police officials who were convicted of committing the murder upon orders from higher up, and audio recordings by a presidential bodyguard – did not hold up enough for Kuchma to even stand trial.
Meanwhile, judges are delaying trials and brushing aside appeals where Tymoshenko stands accused of everything from exceeding authority to tax evasion. Shockingly, Tymoshenko’s basic right not to be present at trial is being violated. Two separate courts called for medical checkups to determine if the 51-year old is healthy enough to appear in court against her will.
These are but a few of many examples which back up claims by opposition parties, pro-democracy advocates, the EU and U.S. that Ukraine’s courts and justice system over all are under Yanukovych’s rule being exploited selectively as political weapons to eliminate enemies and whitewash allies.
The system is completely discredited. The time has come for victims of Ukraine’s oppressive regime to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. A fair ruling may not, however, be upheld in Yanukovych-run Ukraine.
The last call for justice now hangs on voters. Ukrainians can either continue to put up with more. Or they can bring change through the ballot box or, should the upcoming Oct. 28 parliamentary election be undemocratic, on the streets.
