By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
KIEV, Ukraine – Serhiy Vlasenko is no longer a member of the Ukrainian parliament, or Rada. He was stripped of his seat Wednesday, and the immunity from prosecution that goes with it. Although Ukraine’s Highest Administrative Court claims that the reason Vlasenko was removed was because he illegally combined the occupations of legislator and lawyer, many believe the move was politically motivated. Vlasenko is a member of the opposition party, Batkivshchyna, and acted as an attorney, for free, for jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
The court acted on a motion from Party of Regions political ally, Speaker Volodymyr Rybak, of current Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, which claimed that Vlasenko acted as a lawyer while holding office, a banned act.
Vlasenko has claimed that the Party of Regions desires his arrest in order to deprive Tymoshenko of a qualified legal defense. He further says that he is aware of at least three criminal charges already against him.
However, opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk has promised that the Batkivschyna party plans to take all possible measures to prevent Vlasenko’s arrest. “We will do everything so that Vlasenko is not arrested, including with the assistance of our Western partners,” he said on Thursday.
According to Member of the European Parliament Rebecca Harms, if Vlasenko is arrested and jailed, an Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine currently under discussion will not be signed. Hams further emphasized that if the Ukrainian government continues to employ selective judgment of political opponents, the European Union would introduce sanctions against the Ukrainian authorities.
European Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fuele, condemned the ruling, saying via Twitter: “Stripping a parliamentarian of his mandate like being done in case of Vlasenko is not European way. Does this bring Ukraine closer to EU?”
The United States State Department has also spoke out against the treatment of Vlasenko, saying efforts to deprive Vlasenko of his seat in parliament “appear to be politically motivated due to his connection with Tymoshenko.” The State Department further noted that Vlasenko is not the first lawmaker to be forced out of Ukraine’s parliament. Last month a Ukrainian court annulled the parliamentary mandates of two independent lawmakers: Pavlo Blaloha and Oleksandr Dombrovsky. The United States called on the Ukrainian government to end “politically motivated prosecutions of opposition leaders and to abide by their international commitments to the rule of law and democracy.”
Former PM Tymoshenko has notably been a political adversary of current PM Yanukovich, of the Party of Regions. In 2004, she led the Orange Revolution protests that stopped his first bid for the presidency. However, in 2011, she was jailed on abuse-of-office charges, and now faces tax evasion and embezzlement charges, as well as suspicion of involvement in a political murder. She claims she is innocent of all charges and that they are merely revenge from Yanukovich’s political camp.
Vlasenko remains undeterred by the loss of his parliamentary mandate. “Today’s court decision does not influence my status as a defense counsel in the case of Yulia Tymoshenko. I will continue to defend her as before,” he said Wednesday. “I realize that their goal was not just to withdraw my mandate – their goal was to stop me,”
For further information, please see:
Kyiv Post – Yatseniuk: Opposition to do Everything to Prevent Vlasenko’s Arrest – 7 March 2013
Kyiv Post – European Lawmaker: If Vlasenko Jailed, Ukraine-EU Association Agreement Won’t be Signed – 7 March 2013
Ukraine Business – Vlasenko Remains Tymoshenko’s Defender – 7 March 2013
The Independent – Ukrainian Defense Lawyer is Stripped of Seat – 6 March 2013
Returns – Ukraine Court Strips Tymoshenko Ally of Parliament Seat – 6 March 2013
RFE/RL – U.S. ‘Deeply Concerned’ Over Anti-Opposition Moves In Ukraine – 6 March 2013
