MP of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Party of Regions on International Policy, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on International Affairs Leonid Kozhara in his article for the newspaper The Kyiv Times emphasized that the Tymoshenko case is the first example of a court trial against a high-ranked official in Ukraine's history, which was impossible in last 20 years.
"I have noticed that nearly all political statements about Tymoshenko's case in the West begin with the words "it is the perception" or "it is the impression that" and so on. I think it's time we should stop talking about vague perceptions and start discussing the facts," the politician noted.
Leonid Kozhara expressed hope that the Tymoshenko case is a strong sign of Ukraine's belonging to the European and Euro-Atlantic world. For the first time in Ukraine's history there's a court procedure against a statesman of such a high rank, which was impossible in last 20 years. By opening the case against the former Prime Minister, Ukraine just followed the example of France, Iceland, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, just to mention the recent cases.
"And I'm convinced there should be equal standards for all: if Ukraine is criticized for the Tymoshenko trial, same criticism should be reversed to the Governments of the European states I mentioned, as the processed politicians – former Presidents and former Prime Ministers – are political opponents of the Governments or Presidents in office," the parliamentarian emphasized.
According to him, those who blame Yanukovych for Tymoshenko being in custody should have protested, for example, against the arrest by Austrian authorities of Ivo Sanader, who has been in jail from December 2010.
"And in fact I've read the statement by former Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Năstase who wonders why the EU is so preoccupied with Tymoshenko's case and nobody cares about the trial against him, which he too considers a politically motivated one," Leonid Kozhara informed.
"And if the next elections are already considered undemocratic in case Tymoshenko could not take part in it, I propose by the same token to protest against the U.S. authorities which had jailed Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who then proved himself innocent but lost his post in the IMF and the prospects of participation in the presidential elections. Should anybody consider the next presidential elections in France undemocratic on that ground? That sounds like absurdity and I deeply regret that there are esteemed experts and politicians who pronounce the same absurdity in regards to Ukraine, not even noticing double standards present in their judgments," MP stressed.
In his article Leonid Kozhara expressed conviction that many of the episodes of the trial that look strange to the Western eye, are linked to the obsolete Criminal Procedure Code which hasn't been reformed since Khrushchev time.
"The new draft Code has been elaborated and sent to the Venice Commission. We all hope it will consider the document in the fast track mode so that we could have the new Code as soon as possible. Ukraine is rapidly changing and modernizing. Football funs that will arrive here next summer will already see a changed Ukraine. Western people who are coming to Kiev see changes by their own eyes. Those who deliberately distort the truth can not stop the changes," he summed up.
"I have noticed that nearly all political statements about Tymoshenko's case in the West begin with the words "it is the perception" or "it is the impression that" and so on. I think it's time we should stop talking about vague perceptions and start discussing the facts," the politician noted.
Leonid Kozhara expressed hope that the Tymoshenko case is a strong sign of Ukraine's belonging to the European and Euro-Atlantic world. For the first time in Ukraine's history there's a court procedure against a statesman of such a high rank, which was impossible in last 20 years. By opening the case against the former Prime Minister, Ukraine just followed the example of France, Iceland, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, just to mention the recent cases.
"And I'm convinced there should be equal standards for all: if Ukraine is criticized for the Tymoshenko trial, same criticism should be reversed to the Governments of the European states I mentioned, as the processed politicians – former Presidents and former Prime Ministers – are political opponents of the Governments or Presidents in office," the parliamentarian emphasized.
According to him, those who blame Yanukovych for Tymoshenko being in custody should have protested, for example, against the arrest by Austrian authorities of Ivo Sanader, who has been in jail from December 2010.
"And in fact I've read the statement by former Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Năstase who wonders why the EU is so preoccupied with Tymoshenko's case and nobody cares about the trial against him, which he too considers a politically motivated one," Leonid Kozhara informed.
"And if the next elections are already considered undemocratic in case Tymoshenko could not take part in it, I propose by the same token to protest against the U.S. authorities which had jailed Mr. Strauss-Kahn, who then proved himself innocent but lost his post in the IMF and the prospects of participation in the presidential elections. Should anybody consider the next presidential elections in France undemocratic on that ground? That sounds like absurdity and I deeply regret that there are esteemed experts and politicians who pronounce the same absurdity in regards to Ukraine, not even noticing double standards present in their judgments," MP stressed.
In his article Leonid Kozhara expressed conviction that many of the episodes of the trial that look strange to the Western eye, are linked to the obsolete Criminal Procedure Code which hasn't been reformed since Khrushchev time.
"The new draft Code has been elaborated and sent to the Venice Commission. We all hope it will consider the document in the fast track mode so that we could have the new Code as soon as possible. Ukraine is rapidly changing and modernizing. Football funs that will arrive here next summer will already see a changed Ukraine. Western people who are coming to Kiev see changes by their own eyes. Those who deliberately distort the truth can not stop the changes," he summed up.
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