Yulia Tymoshenko. My arrest

This morning I listening to the news and read comments made by experts and analysts regarding my detention yesterday. Here’s what they’re saying: 

1. The arrest was positive for Tymoshenko and she should thank fate for such a present because her ratings will go up because of the arrest. 

2. There was no arrest or plans for arrest. It was all PR. 

3. Tymoshenko behaved insolently with the investigators from the prosecutor’s office, didn’t show up when summoned, they got offended and detained her to teach her a lesson. 

And the most interesting idea: 

4. In our democratic country it’s not right to just arrest Tymoshenko, you must wait for a "legal" court decision and only then arrest her "honestly". 

I have a few thoughts on this matter, and with your permission, will address them point by point. 

One. Only those who have never been behind bars and know what it’s like can talk about increasing ratings by going to jail. Because of the same political persecution, I was already there once and I know what this "business trip" is like. 

Being in jail isn’t just humiliation, it’s suffering. You lose your life and health. Are any ratings worth this? 

I am a believer and when I turn to God, I pray that everything will be good in our country and for all good people. I never once asked the Lord to stick me behind bars, didn’t beg for my arrest and a jail cell, so that my ratings would grow like yeast. 

Dear experts – do you honestly believe that yesterday I was deeply disappointed that I was freed after a seven-hour detention? 

Do you honestly believe that the second they told me I was being arrested I was in seventh heaven from joy, rushed to embrace Nechvohlod and drink champagne in celebration? 

I don’t wish such a "gift of fate" – what I lived through yesterday, what my mother, my daughter, my husband, my colleagues, friends and everyone who supports me live through – on anyone. 

No rating is worth even the loss of one day of freedom, and this applies not just to politicians but every normal person. 

There are moments that words can’t describe, because the emotions are far greater than the words in your head. For example, when you’re not afraid but you’re scared. Believe me, this happens in life. 

There are different ways to live through this fear, and this is another matter. You can fall from one egg, or hold yourself upright with dignity. 

Let me summarize my thoughts on this issue. If I knew that at the cost of my arrest, Ukraine would be magically freed from this criminal regime and happiness would reign, I would probably agree. But my arrest, on the contrary, minimizes the chance for such a result, because most politicians have already won by finding their place in the government game of solitaire and are playing according to set scenarios. There is almost nobody left who is willing and able to stop the horde. 

Two. What happened yesterday was a real arrest. This wasn’t a rehearsal, as some experts have written. 

As soon as my lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, and I crossed the threshold of the prosecutor’s office, from all corridors we were blocked by masked commandos, armed from head to toe, dressed in black. In the civilized world only terrorists are barricaded this way. In Ukraine, this is how they block those who have crossed the path of the current regime. 

Immediately after this, we were presented with the order of the Pechersk Court for my detention. (you can read it here). They wrote down everything I had with me. In the protocol they wrote down what I was wearing, especially the interesting color of my suit and shoes. I don’t know why. Then a female guard searched me, inch by inch, apparently checking to see whether I had a suicide bomber’s belt or weapons of mass destruction. What followed was a "concrete" discussion with the "guys" from the investigation. After a few hours they charged me, gave me several minutes supposedly to study the charges, and immediately announced that the questioning had begun but that they don’t have any questions for me and that they’re not interested in my explanations. The head of the department speed read the results of the examination, which were also ordered in the morning and by evening had been fabricated in disciplined fashion. It became clear that these "guys" already had their hands in the cases against Lutsenko, Makarenko, Didenko, Shepitko, Ivashchenko and others, and most importantly – crossed the line that completely atrophied their conscience. They’re conscience became like a bull terrier’s muzzle – immune to pain. It was comical to watch them run regularly into the adjoining room, where their “elders” were sitting, to receive permission to do, say, or even think anything – as if they were being pulled by a thread. 

Meanwhile, on the first floor, for many hours, even ordinary workers of the prosecutor’s office were barricaded inside their rooms. They weren’t even allowed to go to the bathroom. Are they somehow a threat to the regime? 

And then at some point, the investigators melted like ice cream on a heater, and shyly presented me with order of release. Then they gave the commandos the order to withdraw and allowed me and Serhiy Vlasenko to leave. 

For all seven hours in the prosecutor’s office, we were isolated from the outside world. For me, my arrest became a fact from the first minute of yesterday’s interrogation, and I lived with this "sense" for all seven hours. These weren’t the best seven hours of my life. 

It is certain that they were planning to arrest me. They could care less about this country, it’s laws, public opinion, the whole nation. They won this country in the last elections and they have to carry out the final sweep to fully control it. Everyone who disagrees with this can look forward to "gifts of fate" such as Yuriy Lutsenko’s incarceration or my arrest. 

I am convinced that they abandoned the idea of arresting me only because of strong pressure from people in Kyiv, who began gathering outside the prosecutor’s office, honest journalists, and the reaction of the international community. This wasn’t a scenario to intimidate me – this was a failed plan to arrest me. They only have two scenarios: to plunder the country or bury in piles those who are against this. 

I would like to thank everyone that came yesterday to the prosecutor’s office, the European People’s Party and its President, the President of the European Parliament, political figures form the European Union and the world, diplomats, everyone who intervened in this process. Yesterday they got scared of you and thanks to you today I am free, and can tell about my experience and continue working. 

Three. I haven’t missed a single summons to the prosecutor’s office, with the exception of the time I was ill. I haven’t ignored any part of the investigation and haven’t evaded a single question. Everything else is the usual lies and machinations by the rooks from the prosecutor’s office. Over the past six months, I have spent more time at the prosecutor’s office than at home, including weekends. I visited the Prosecutor General's Office 42 times… 

Can you call this evasion? 

On Monday night I knew that Tuesday I would be arrested, but I went there anyway. I didn’t check myself into a hospital, or flee the country, as leaders of the Party of Regions usually did. 

I’m telling you this not to show how brave I am, but to explain that from day one I decided not to give them grounds to arrest me. But, as you can see, they don’t find reasons, they invent them. 

Four. I can understand when people who are not knowledgeable about politics say that the final decision in my case will be made by the court. But when experienced politicians, who are far from naïve, say this, it seems disingenuous. 

Tell me, which court in Ukraine can independently decide a high-profile political case? Which judge in our country, when it comes to political processes, will issue even one verdict without instructions from the Presidential Administration? What court can say anything contrary to the position of Yanukovych? Perhaps the Pechersk Court? The cleaning ladies at the Presidential Administration have more real authority than this court. 

Only politicians that are marionettes of the regime can appeal to an "honest court" in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we no longer have honest courts! 

And finally - five. I was stunned by comments made regarding Yuriy Lutsenko and other politically motivated criminal cases. I’m not talking about official television – it’s clear how things work there – but about "our people"… 

Don’t think that by "our people" I mean those who cooperate with me or are good to me. For me, in this case, "our people" is synonymous with those accustomed to speaking frankly, honestly and democratically. 

I understand that politicians don’t belong to the social category most trusted and respected by the people. And so far, there’s no reason to – that’s true. 

You can’t "mock" everything. There are things that must be taken seriously and responsibly. These are people’s lives, their fate - not just witty remarks. 

I spoke with Yuriy Lutsenko through the bars of the courtroom holding cell. He’s lost weight. Even his facial expressions, dynamics of language and movements have changed. And then there appeared sarcastic headlines about his "diet" and "hungry" Lutsenko – is it cool, daring and original to kick a person at a time when he needs defense, whose struggle, perhaps, means more to your life, than his. It’s wrong. 

It’s just wrong… 

Think about it – if this is how the government cracks down on public figures, imagine what they can do to ordinary people? Maybe the rhetoric is worth changing - if not for the sake of understanding and sympathy, but for the sake of self-preservation? Today injustice is being committed against many, but tomorrow it may be committed against all. 

The issue is the same for everyone. We must change EVERYTHING in our country. This is the key "reform" that we need. 

In "The Gulag Archipelago" Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote: "what if everyone arrested by Stalin’s regime didn’t go quietly, like sheep to a meat grinder, but yelled, resisted, or beat the satrap’s head in…Maybe then the country would be different." 

Maybe we too shouldn’t stay silent, but speak out loud words that will help keep Ukraine free for future generations, save it from these barbarians? 

Yesterday and today I read many very controversial versions by different people of how beneficial it would be for me to go to jail and how well it would raise my ratings. I don’t wish this on anyone. I wish those saying this just one thing – be a human being. That’s all. This is enough. 

After all, everyone has a choice. You can not give a damn, leave your country and live in a more successful country, built over centuries by a different nation. This, unfortunately, is what millions of Ukrainians are forced to do today. People who are tired of fighting, who simply want to live comfortably in a rich country. Or, you can consciously go into battle and be ready for everything… 

Everyone has a choice: I, Lutsenko, pundits, politicians, every citizen has a choice. 

I made my choice. I will fight. 

Thank you. 

Yulia Tymoshenko