Ukraine parliament strips immunity of two MPs

Ukraine’s parliament voted on June 3 to strip the political immunity of MPs Serhiy Kliuyev and Serhiy Melnychuk. They become the first MPs to lose their immunity since the EuroMaidan protests. The Prosecutor General’s Office has been discussing filing criminal charges against these two MPs since April. In arguments to parliament, First Deputy Prosecutor General Volodymyr Huzyra cited evidence collected against Melnychuk that indicated criminal activity committed after the EuroMaidan. The alleged crimes by Kliuyev involved numerous financial machinations that occurred largely before the EuroMaidan, during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych.

Kliuyev spent several weeks maneuvering in parliament to undermine the initiative to remove immunity on the basis of a lack of evidence, ultimately failing to muster enough support as 287 MPs backed removing his immunity out of the 226 votes that were necessary. Prosecutors haven’t indicated what particular criminal cases they will pursue against Kliuyev. Among the more recent alleged crimes is his alleged involvement in the murder of former MP Oleg Kalashnikov, who reportedly claimed to relatives that Kliuyev was among those owing him large sums of money for organizing political rallies, according to prosecutors. Yet that criminal case wasn’t mentioned by Huzyra in his address to parliament.

Zenon Zawada: As is the trend with post-EuroMaidan politics, the government has taken a small step forward, but with much hesitancy and little consistency. Melnychuk’s alleged crimes are rather small in scale compared to the millions, if not billions, alleged to have been illegally appropriated by the Kliuyev brothers, who were part of the inner circle of Yanukovych.

It’s not clear yet just which of the criminal allegations against Kliuyev that prosecutors will pursue, which is why the removal of his immunity is nothing to get excited about. So far, criminal charges against top ranking officials have been limited to petty crimes, rather than the grand corruption schemes they have been widely reported to have indulged in. The criminal charges against Kliuyev will have to address the most serious allegations, whether it’s murder or theft of large sums of money.

The slow pace of prosecuting crimes is disappointing. Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin started out with a bang but has since sputtered out. It’s also disappointing that Serhiy Kliuyev is the first member of Yanukovych’s inner circle to possible face criminal charges. The lack of a consistent, organized campaign to pursue criminal prosecutions against all the key Yanukovych officials, for their most serious alleged crimes, lends some credibility to the claims by Kliuyev that the cases are politically motivated.

Although Melnychuk is from a coalition party, he is not among the big players. The removal of his immunity even looks as though it was done to add balance so as not to prompt accusations of selective prosecution. There are heavy hitters in the government who deserve to be closely examined by Ukrainian authorities, such as MP Mykola Martynenko, who is currently being investigated by Swiss authorities on bribery charges. Yet the close associate to Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has yet to draw attention from prosecutors. It’s also hard to take the government seriously when Shokin claimed Melnychuk faces lifetime imprisonment for his alleged crimes, while the more well-connected Kliuyev faces up to ten years, despite a far more sinister alleged rap sheet.

The government needs to adopt a more organized and consistent campaign of prosecuting politicians from all political parties in order to impress the public, both domestically and abroad. Otherwise, these occasional maneuvers, which look more like a simulated show, won’t amount to anything. The lack of consistency could enable alleged criminals like Kliuyev to follow in the footsteps of those like Dmytro Firtash in convincing international judges that the prosecutions are politically motivated.