Reformer of the week – Oleksiy Donsky
Oleksiy Donsky, a top official at the prosecutorial department for trials in absentia, has acquired the reputation of being one of Ukraine’s few independent and outspoken prosecutors.
Donsky has been investigating criminal cases against ex-Berkut riot police officers accused of murdering EuroMaidan Revolution protesters, Russia’s alleged involvement in the murders and a corruption case against ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka.
However, his efforts have been sabotaged. In early April, four ex-Berkut riot police officers fled the country after being released or put under house arrest by courts.
Last year, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko emasculated the department for trials in absentia, which is understaffed and has insufficient resources, by transferring graft cases against allies of former President Viktor Yanukovych to another unit.
In 2014, Donsky tried to arrest Berkut commander Dmytro Sadovnyk after he was released by Judge Svitlana Volkova. But the leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office refused to provide a special forces unit to make the arrest, and Sadovnyk fled.
Meanwhile, EuroMaidan cases cannot be sent to trial due to the authorities’ failure to pass legislation on trials in absentia that complies with international law.
Ihor Tsyuprik – anti-reformer of the week
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko on April 13 appointed Ihor Tsyuprik as a deputy prosecutor of Luhansk Oblast.
In February 2016, Tsyuprik was still a police official but failed to pass vetting due to incompetence, according to the commission members who interviewed him. He denies having undergone vetting and claims he was fired before that.
Tsyuprik has also been accused of persecuting EuroMaidan activists in 2013 to 2014, which he also denies.
In June 2016, Lutsenko appointed Tsyuprik as a deputy chief of the prosecutorial department for in absentia cases. Lutsenko then fired him under public pressure, but then made him a mid-level prosecutor in Luhansk Oblast.
Tsyuprik is now also competing to become a deputy chief of the yet-to-be-created State Investigation Bureau.
Tsyuprik’s appointment is also dangerous because the Prosecutor General’s Office is set to create in May self-regulating bodies that can block any dismissals or appointments. Critics argue that self-regulation at the unreformed and notoriously corrupt agency will only entrench prosecutors’ kleptocracy.
Ukraine’s prosecution reform failed in 2015, with 84 percent of incumbent top local prosecutors keeping their jobs. Political influence on Lutsenko was exposed when Radio Liberty on April 13 published footage of him meeting with many top politicians, including the influential lawmakers Ihor Kononenko and Oleksandr Hranovsky, at his office.
