Elite pressured court in Martynenko arrest, anti-corruption head says

Ukraine’s political elite pressured and threatened the prosecution and judges during the April 22 hearing to determine bail for Mykola Martynenko, the political insider arrested on corruption charges, National Anti-Corruption Bureau Head Artem Sytnyk told a press briefing on April 24. “This is a test for our political elite that, unfortunately, showed its non-pristine side during this hearing,” Sytnyk said. “When deputies insult the prosecution and judges and there’s pressure openly applied during the court hearing, then it seems to me that our elite hasn’t passed the test.” 

Martynenko, a former MP with the populist People’s Front party and widely identified as its key sponsor, was arrested on April 20 for charges of creating a criminal organization and mishandling property gained by abuse of authority in alleged crimes committed several years ago. The next day, he was released from detainment on the pledges of his fellow party members and MPs. Following Martynenko’s arrest, People’s Front Party Head Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with the Ukrainian president at the Presidential Administration, the pravda.com.ua news site reported.

Zenon Zawada: Martynenko’s arrest and prosecution is a new frontier in Ukraine’s battle against corruption. Unlike the attempted arrest of MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who fled to Great Britain, and Roman Nasirov, the head of the nation’s tax and customs office, Martynenko is an insider in Ukraine’s oligarchy. He’s also a key figure in the current parliamentary coalition, as was apparent when more than a dozen of People’s Front MPs flooded the court during his bail hearing. Though he’s no longer an MP himself, having resigned his mandate in late 2015, he’s a mega-millionaire who offered much of the People’s Front financing. He enjoys close ties to Yatsenyuk, the party head.

We see three basic scenarios for how events could unfold. The People’s Front could threaten to abandon the parliamentary coalition and force early elections. Yet we see that as least likely to happen since the party won’t get re-elected, nor would most of its MPs, who would lose any political influence. In a second scenario, the current government will continue to pressure the courts and prosecution to prevent a conviction in Martynenko’s trial. Yet that would produce enormous public scandal and further discredit the current government, both domestically and abroad. In a third scenario, Martynenko will flee abroad to avoid prosecution and incarceration.

What’s most positive is that anti-corruption fighter Sytnyk is demonstrating the independence of his bureau and its commitment to fighting corruption in the highest levels of Ukrainian government. His leadership is among the inspirations of post-EuroMaidan Ukraine.