Regional council head named suspect in Handziuk murder

Vladyslav Manher, the head of the Kherson Regional
Council, was named a suspect by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine on
Feb. 11 in the acid attack and murder of local civic activist Kateryna
Handziuk. The two criminal charges involve acting as the organizer of a crime
and premeditated murder. Manher organized the killing, hired the five
perpetrators and provided the funds, the prosecutor general’s report said,
according to the pravda.com.ua news site. Manher committed his crimes motivated
by his personal animus towards Handziuk, who was an activist against illegal
logging in the region from which his local criminal syndicate earned illegal
profit, the report said.

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko told the
press conference where the findings were announced that more state and law
enforcement officials could be implicated, though evidence is still lacking. He
said no evidence has been found linking to the murder Andriy Hordeyev, the head
of the Kherson regional administration (which is the local representative
office of the Presidential Administration). At the same time, his deputy Yevhen
Ryshchuk took a leave of absence from his post pending the investigation.
Viktor Handziuk, the victim’s father, alleged that Manher, Ryshchuk and Hordeyev
were all responsible for the murder and “should disappear from the political
horizon.”

Numerous protests occurred in recent days by activists
demanding prosecuting for Handziuk’s murder. Dozens of members of a nationalist
group attempted to protest a Feb. 9 campaign rally for candidate Yulia
Tymoshenko, only to be arrested by police before they could unfurl their banner
that read, “Who Killed Katia Handziuk?” At a forum attended by President
Poroshenko the same day, an activist had his banner with the same slogan ripped
apart by by the president’s security
guards.   .

Zenon Zawada: As cynical
as it might sound, this has all the signs of a careful arrangement by
authorities to extinguish an embarrassing scandal during an election campaign.
Manher submitted his resignation from the Fatherland party the same day of the
protests, which doesn’t happen unless there’s pressure from above. The party
duly agreed to exclude him from its ranks, likely allowing to him serving as
the fall guy for the murder since his expulsion boosts its image among voters.
After the prosecutor made the allegations public, Manher told the press he
intends to stay in Ukraine and cooperate fully with investigators, which is
more evidence of a political arrangement.

For the Presidential Administration, keeping the
exposed and vulnerable Hordeyev in power is an even greater boon since he will
gladly fulfill all orders during a neck-and-neck election campaign, especially
vote manipulations. With Manher cooperating with investigators, eventually
taking the blame and receiving a slap on the wrists (sooner or later), the
Poroshenko administration also hopes to satisfy Western authorities, who were
caught in an awkward position of being pressured by NGO employees and
activists, many of whom receive Western grants, while backing the pro-Western
Poroshenko administration.

This arrangement takes some of the wind out of the
activists’ sails, since the establishment will argue that one key figure has
been “punished.” In exchange for his cooperation in removing himself from the
spotlight and taking the blame, Manher won’t be prosecuted or convicted. In
which case, time will tell whether activists are able to maintain pressure on
the Poroshenko administration to pursue justice to the fullest extent, and
whether Western authorities will be satisfied with this rather meager
concession (which is Manher abdicating his political post).

Unfortunately, the typical scenario for a Ukrainian
political scapegoat is that Manher will disappear from radar screens amid
political turbulence (of which there will be more than enough this year),
engage in his business affairs behind the scenes, only to quietly return to
politics in several years’ time. Meanwhile, Hordeyev will be handsomely
rewarded (and protected) if Poroshenko is re-elected. We can believe Ukraine is
moving forward with rule of law if better results are achieved than this.