A message
was also placed on President Viktor Yanukovych’s official website stating that “the head of state is proposing that the Pardon Commission under the president consider without delay the applications from Valeria Lutkovska
and Georgy Filipchuk. A separate message
is posted, apparently quoting Ms Lutkovska, the Human Rights
Ombudsperson, in which she asks for the pardon on the grounds of concern
for Lutsenko’s deteriorating health.
As reported, a strong message
was issued by EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, and
Commissioner Stefan Füle on 4 April in which they “express their regret
over the rejection of former Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko’s cassation
appeal and reiterate concern over the trial which did not respect
international standards”.
“We have noted with regret yesterday’s
decision by Ukraine’s Higher Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal
Cases to uphold the verdict against Mr Yuriy Lutsenko of four years’
imprisonment.
We recall our strong concern regarding his trial
which did not respect international standards as regards fair,
transparent and independent legal processes. These concerns were
reinforced by the 3 July 2012 judgment of the European Court of Human
Rights which held that his pre-trial arrest in December 2010 had been
arbitrary and that the lawfulness of his arrest and detention had not
been properly reviewed.
We commend the efforts undertaken by the
European Parliament’s monitoring mission to Ukraine headed by former
Presidents Cox and Kwaśniewski. We call on the Ukrainian authorities to
step up cooperation with the mission to redress the effects and remove
the concerns regarding selective justice. This would also require, among
other issues, consideration of the health condition of Mr Lutsenko and
implementation of further judicial reforms”
We will continue to
monitor closely developments in Ukraine and we look forward to the full
implementation of the conclusions of the 10 December 2012 Foreign
Affairs Council and 25 February 2013 EU-Ukraine Summit.”
Information about Georgy Filipchuk’s case can be found here
Halya Coynash is a member of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. The article first appeared here.
