Here’s the simplest way out of the Yulia Tymoshenko mess: When the trial resumes on Sept. 27, Judge Rodion Kireyev should dismiss the charges – ruling that he has reviewed the prosecutor’s case and found it to be groundless.
That way, President Viktor Yanukovych can say that he didn’t interfere and let the process run its course. Prosecutors can say they did their job, but the independent judge found the evidence lacking, so they accept the verdict.
And the ex-prime minister can go on doing what she does best: Returning to the political arena as a vital voice standing in the way of the political monopolization and corrupt cronyism under way in President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration.
No one will believe the judge acted independently, but at least Yanukovych can publicly keep alive the fiction of an independent judiciary.
Yanukovych is going nowhere with the West unless Tymoshenko is released.
The president seems to know that now. He was right in Yalta to talk about scrapping the nation’s antiquated, Soviet-era criminal code, but his sincerity is in question. He has had numerous opportunities to do this, first as prime minister in 2002-2004 and again in 2005, then more than a year as president.
The truth is that he and his Donetsk cronies don’t want a judicial system that they can’t control – it would represent too much of a danger to their ability to freely pursue their business interests, centered on using official power to achieve greater private wealth.
But victories come in unexpected places. The administration’s stubborn desire for revenge against Tymoshenko and her former top officials managed to convince almost everyone on the international stage of one thing: They are dealing with a fumbling but dangerous regime led by Yanukovych.
Such unanimity of unfavorable opinion is hard to find and even harder to acquire in less than two years of his presidency, but Yanukovych richly deserves it.
