Ukrainian courts think that Yulia Tymoshenko is guilty. Two domestic courts have come to the conclusion that she abused her authority as a prime minister in 2009 by signing a gas importing contract with Russia and deserves to be punished for it.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe does not think so. On Jan. 26, it approved a resolution that says that “Articles 364 and 365 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code are overly broad in application and effectively allow for post-facto criminalization of normal political decision-making.”
I am still in favor of the official Ukrainian point of view, and here are my arguments.
Whatever one thinks of articles 364 and 365 of the Criminal Code, it’s perfectly clear that they were never approved especially for Tymoshenko. In fact, the existing Criminal Code certainly was not approved for her personally.
This means that Tymoshenko, before agreeing to take charge of the country as a prime minister, had every opportunity to get familiar with her rights as well as responsibilities that ensue as a result of abusing those rights.
The West demands that we should alter the Criminal Code. But is anyone really entitled to send future politicians a message like this: Go ahead and break the law, but make sure to join the pro-Western opposition beforehand to make sure that they could change the law when it’s time to be held responsible?
Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, speak on Jan. 18 as T-shirts with a portrait of Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko are displayed. The shirts read “Free Yulia.” The seven-year prison sentence being served by Tymoshenko has worsened Ukraine’s relations with the West, whose politicians view her conviction as a politically motivated attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to remove her from politics. (AFP)
The whole political career of Tymoshenko has been a bright example of acting on the basis of political expediency and proving that she is her own law.
For example, on Jan. 24, 2007, the then prime minister publicly announced her decision that the tax and customs authorities were given the right to “not fulfill the court decisions and orders that are illegal a priori.” But, of course, she failed to explain who’s to decide which court decisions and orders fall into this category.
Her aim, which is clearly absolute power, was always to be achieved by any means. But in my opinion, Tymoshenko has to bear responsibility for many of her other actions.
In May 2004, Ukraine faced a scandal related to the statement of Volodymyr Borovko, Tymoshenko’s assistant. In a report to the general prosecutor, Borovko said that “Tymosheko requested that compromising material be collected on [ex-President Leonid] Kuchma, [Prime Minister Mykola] Azarov, [former Presidential Administration head Viktor] Medvedchuk and [President Viktor] Yanukovych, and was prepared to pay $500,000 for it.”
Turchynov claimed that Borovko made the story up, and Tymoshenko said she cannot remember all of her assistants.
I would suggest that as a result of that situation, Tymoshenko can be held responsible for organizing that provocation under an article [of the Criminal Code] that sets responsibility for fabricating false evidence.
Tymosheko could not have known about the abuse during the recapitalization of Rodovid and Ukrprombank. The media have printed what effectively are confessions by Tymoshenko’s former deputy Bohdan Hubsky, who directly accused ex-Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov, the right hand of Tymoshenko, that he doled out money for recapitalization on an ad hoc basis.
An assumption that Turchynov could act irrespective of Tymoshenko’s wishes would be ridiculous. Neither Turchynov nor Tymsohenko commented on the issue.
Finally, what needs to be explained is Tymoshenko’s role in the so-called “flu epidemic” in autumn of 2008. The destiny of 70 billion hryvnias spent on its elimination needs to be explained to the public. This kind of money is not a needle in a haystack.
Tymoshenko has never commented on the issue, while people from her camp accused Zynoviy Mytnyk, a person close to Azarov, of involvement in dubious schemes. He was a deputy health minister under Tymoshenko.
Viacheslav Pikhovshek is a former news editor at 1+1 channel and a former speechwriter for ex-President Leonid Kuchma.
