Ukrainian president says he will sign a law for Tymoshenko’s release

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said on October 17 that he’ll sign a law approved by parliament that will arrange for imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to seek medical treatment abroad, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. “The political forces represented in parliament have prepared a bill that will enable resolving this task,” he said. “There’s no bill in Ukraine today that will have allowed Tymoshenko to travel abroad. Once that issue will be resolved in parliament, and that bill lies on my table, then the issue will be for the president. Naturally, if parliament passes that law, I will sign it,” Yanukovych told a press conference in Donetsk. Afterwards, a court can determine the departure’s arrangement that would preserve certain guarantees, he said.

MPs from the Fatherland party weren’t impressed by the president’s gesture, maintaining the position that he pardon their leader. If any legislative action is needed, it’s to amend bylaws or prior decrees that established the list of diseases or conditions that allow for release under bail, said Fatherland MP Serhiy Sas, as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Another Fatherland MP, Arsen Avakov, wrote on his Facebook page, “Yanuokvych’s attempt is far from the first time in the last two years to nod to parliament and not resolve an issue in its essence. It’s the latest foul maneuver from the series, ‘How to Sucker the Trusting Europeans.’ It’s an attempt not to do, but to imitate.”

Zenon Zawada: We are tempted to view this latest statement with increased optimism in resolving the Tymoshenko puzzle. However, we see conflict ensuing considering that the ruling Party of Regions expects the opposition factions, led by Tymoshenko’s Fatherland party, to prepare such legislation. Meanwhile, Fatherland party leaders are not budging from their demand of a pardon from the president as a means of removing her conviction, a position in line with EU expectations.

So we will consider the president’s statement as a pretext for optimism should one of the sides agrees to prepare and submit the legislation. Until then, the statement’s only value is that it shifts the burden of responsibility to the parliament away from Yanukovych, who was put in that position by Tymoshenko’s lead defense attorney who requested that he either issue a pardon or use his authoritarian influence to ensure appropriate court rulings that would lead to overturning her convictions.

The president’s intended plan to resolve the conflict is in line with the scenario that we have recommended for the last week, which is for parliament to pass legislation allowing Tymoshenko to seek medical treatment abroad without pardoning her. Certainly, a pardon would be ideal, but not prospective, in our view, given Ukraine’s very tense domestic political situation.