Poroshenko proposes prosecuting paramilitaries as terrorists

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko proposed on July 15 giving law enforcement bodies the temporary authority to arrest and prosecute as terrorists any armed individual not serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “When their war was concluding and there was an enormous number of armaments, the Balkan countries defined you as a terrorist if you didn’t belong to a law enforcement body and were on the street with an automatic rifle or machine gun,” he said during a visit to the Zakarapptia region. “And law enforcement bodies had the right to treat you as a terrorist. After reading this experience, I don’t rule out submitting such a legislative initiative to parliament in the nearest future.” The law would be enacted temporarily to stabilize the situation in the country, he said.

The same day, Poroshenko said he doesn’t have a conflict with the Right Sector paramilitary organization. Moreover, there’s no conflict between any volunteer battalions and the state, he said. The conflict is between those transporting contraband and law-abiding citizens, he said.

Zenon Zawada: There most certainly is a conflict between Ukraine’s paramilitary forces and the government. Nearly two weeks ago, more than a thousand of them marched past the parliament and Cabinet buildings threatening to overthrow the government. Some volunteer battalion leaders have openly accused Poroshenko of betraying the nation’s interests.

Volunteer fighters and paramilitaries can’t be allowed to carry arms beyond the zone of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, let alone engage in vigilante or openly criminal acts. But the president’s proposal of labeling them terrorists is a threat that can backfire. The members of the Right Sector played a key role in the EuroMaidan protest when it turned deadly, earning much public support. And its popularity has grown since the start of the war.

Poroshenko will be able to start prosecuting them as terrorists only when public opinion turns against the paramilitaries. That could have happened had the president engaged in a strategic program of modernizing the state and pursuing an aggressive reforms agenda. Instead, the public sees the paramilitaries as a buffer against a corrupt oligarch establishment that remains in place. So the president will have to tolerate them for as long as they enjoy public support.