Kiev regime under fresh attack for ´political persecution´ against opponents

by Martin Banks

It comes after the Ukrainian government started legal action in the United States and Switzerland to recover assets allegedly obtained through fraudulent means by former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko.

The implication is that another former Ukraine Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, was also involved in money laundering in the West.

Concerns have been voiced about this case and also the recent arrest of senior Ukraine parliamentarian Igor Markov, leader of `Rodina´, an opposition party in Ukraine.

It is alleged that he was falsely accused of provoking a scuffle with nationalists in an incident in Odessa.

Mr Markov´s supporters say the authorities subsequently launched a "persecution campaign" against other members of his political party, including Alexei Kostusev who was "forced" to resign when he tried to defend Mr Markov.

Kostusev has since reportedly fled the country.

At the same time, it is claimed the authorities in Ukraine revoked the license of the Odessa-based television owned by Mr Markov.

Several former Ukrainian government ministers, including ex-Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, who served under Tymoshenko also face prosecution on what are said to be "highly spurious" grounds.

Campaigners say these and other ongoing events highlight continued attempts by the Ukraine authorities to stifle freedom of speech and amount to "political persecution" by the ruling regime.

One senior Member of the European Parliament, who declined to be named, said such actions by the Ukrainian government renders Ukraine "patently unready" to sign the Association Agreement with the EU at the Eastern Partnership summit later this month.

"It looks like open pressure on Markov in particular and a blatant threat to freedom of speech in Ukraine," said the deputy, who is a member of the Parliament´s Ukraine delegation.

The latest disclosures come in the week when Irish politician Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, the EU´s two envoys, will deliver their final report on Ukraine.

The agreements on association and free trade, due to be signed at an EU-Ukraine summit on November 28 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, offer the former Soviet republic of 46 million people the chance of an historic shift west away from Russia.

But signature hinges on freedom for Tymoshenko, a fierce opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich. She was jailed in 2011 for seven years for abuse of office after a trial which the EU says was political.

Cox and Kwasniewski have been shuttling between Brussels and Kiev for more than 18 months on a mission to nail down a deal over Tymoshenko.

Observers, though, argue that recent actions against Mr Markov, Mr Lazarenko and others indicate that a deal this month is further away than ever.

These include Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt who, speaking of the Lazarenko case, said, "Of course, there has been, fairly obviously, an attempt to throw as many accusations as possible against [Tymoshenko] from certain circles.

"That we have seen. When we have gone through these discussions with them over the past years, we [have heard] one allegation after another.

"And exactly what is the substance in them remains to be seen. Things [like this] have to be proven in a decent court, otherwise it is not serious."

Further doubts were voiced by Halyna Senyk, a member of the board of directors of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre in Kiev, a non-governmental organization.

She said, "Ukraine’s government is an extravagant spender. Most of its spending sprees surprise no-none, but the decision of the Ministry of Income and Revenues to hire an expensive law firm in London to chase after alleged overseas assets of Lazarenko and Tymoshenko is outrageous

"Although the government says that recovery of Lazarenko’s and Tymoshenko’s assets from the U.S. and Switzerland would help fill the gap in the State budget, until now the government has not even bothered to collect information about the fate and the size of the assets it suddenly so desperately wants to return to Ukraine."

She added, "I suspect that the only reason the government actually mentioned Lazarenko’s assets is to prevent Tymoshenko from leaving Ukraine and to falsify new accusations against her."

MEPs in Brussels recently highlighted their continued concerns over recent events in Ukraine, saying that Tymoshenko's case "does not stand alone" and that a "comprehensive judicial reform is needed in Ukraine."

A resolution said, "Selective and politically motivated justice is unacceptable. The respect of democracy and rule of law is indispensible if the country wants to become a member of the EU eventually and opposition candidates should be given an even playing field."

Yet more concern comes from Peter Voitsekhovsky, an expert on Ukrainian politics and Director of Research for the US-Ukraine Foundation, a Washington-based non-profit policy research organization.

He said, "Membership in the EU would provide great economic benefits to Ukraine. Abolishing tariffs and lowering trade barriers would allow a much greater exchange of goods between Ukraine and the 28 other EU member states and could help to revive an economy struggling since the global recession in 2008."

He added, "Despite these economic benefits, the European Union is right to require political reforms before Ukraine can gain full membership.

"The EU has a set of political and economic requirements regarding freedom of the press, the rule of law, free and fair elections, attempts to end corruption, and many more."

“The EU as well as the U.S. are firm in the demand that Tymoshenko must be released as a part of the deal in Vilnius. "

He insists, "Her imprisonment is correctly seen as a symbol of political persecution and selective justice in Ukraine."

Tymoshenko is currently under guard in a Ukrainian hospital with a back ailment.

She was convicted of corruption concerning a gas deal in 2011 in a case that many Ukrainians and international observers believe is politically motivated, as Tymoshenko is the opposition leader to Yanukovych.

Ukrainian citizens and international observers still believe corruption is rampant in business deals as well as in politics.

In 2012, the Transparency International Corruption Perception index ranked Ukraine as 144 out of 176 countries, with 176 being the most corrupt.

Michael Curtis, Professor Emeritus in political science at Rutgers University, also voiced fears about rising anti-semitism in Ukraine.

This comes after a survey of nine European countries, including Ukraine, showed that European Jews perceive and are personally experiencing an increase in anti-semitism.

Curtis said, "Ukraine is cause for great concern."

Bilt, a highly respected European politician, was asked if, in the light of recent events in Ukraine, he was still confident that Kiev will sign the association agreement in Vilnius. Bildt, a former Swedish PM, replied, "No I am not. I have never been confident in that because it is very much touch and go and it is dependent upon what the Cox and Kwasniewski mission is going to report to us this week.

"Then we are going to assess that as we come to the EU´s Foreign Affairs Council on 18 November."

He concludes, "But I would not put too much money on anything at the moment. If I have any assessment it is rather on the slightly pessimistic side."