“Legal language is often dense and impenetrable, but sometimes legal phrases cut to the bone. One such phrase is
res ipsa loquitur – the thing speaks for itself. Certainly, the
recent open letter to the US Senate by Ukraine’s Deputy Prosecutor
General Renat Kuzmin speaks for itself, because it speaks not only of
his unprofessional conduct as a prosecutor, but
of the vendetta being waged by the regime of which he is a loyal
factotum.
“Let
me begin by addressing Mr. Kuzmin’s unprofessional conduct. Although
there is no official international code of conduct for prosecutors,
there is a “Draft Code of Professional Conduct of
the International Association of Prosecutors” which does point us in
the right direction, and certainly reflects the standards to which all
honest prosecutors should seek to adhere. Although Mr Kuzmin violates
many aspects of this code on a regular basis,
let me point out just two to which his letter to the US Senate is
clearly in breach: Point 5 of the above code requires that prosecutors
“Respect the fundamental rights of suspects and accused persons to a
fair trial.” Yet in his letter, Mr. Kuzmin clearly
pronounces Mrs. Tymoshenko as guilty of doing grave and irreparable harm
to her country.
“Point
9 in the code requires that prosecutors ‘Be and appear to be
consistent, impartial, objective, and independent.’ But how can a
prosecutor who roams the world denouncing Mrs. Tymoshenko,
who writes public and open letters to legislative bodies such as the US
Senate, and engages on public platforms to denounce a person that he
has brought criminal charges against maintain impartiality? He cannot,
and Mr Kuzmin does not even attempt to do so.
“By
his unprofessional conduct, Mr. Kuzmin’s letter speaks for itself: it is a
blatant attempt to smear a defendant internationally, nothing more.
“Mr.
Kuzmin is so obviously a partisan that he, to all intents and purposes,
accuses the U.S. government of perverting the course of justice in
refusing to cooperate in his prosecutorial campaign
against former prime minister Tymoshenko. Moreover, his offer to
present his claimed ‘evidence’ against Mrs Tymoshenko in any court, or
in the public media, is also a violation of the professional standards
of a prosecutor, for any prosecutor interested in
the rule of law presents evidence in a court of law, where a defendant
has a chance to cross-examine and rebut. But of course, given the
record of Mrs Tymoshenko’s previous trial, this fundamental aspect of
justice is also denied to her.
“Mr.
Kuzmin’s note is simply further confirmation of the judicial vendetta
the government of President Viktor Yanukovich is waging against not only
Yuliya Tymoshenko, but all those who wish to
defend freedom in Ukraine. That so mendacious an attempt to influence
American opinion was even attempted suggests the contempt which
Ukraine’s rulers hold for true democratic representatives.”
