Ukraine prosecutor seeks criminal cases against opposition MPs

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko submitted
two requests to parliament on May 25 asking for its permission to open criminal
cases against Opposition Bloc MPs Oleksandr Vilkul and Dmytro Kolesnikov. The
criminal cases regard alleged crimes committed when both had served in key
positions under former President Viktor Yanukovych. Kolesnikov is accused of
misappropriating property while serving between December 2010 and December 2012
as head of the State Property Agency, while Vilkul (serving March 2010 –
December 2012 as Dnipropetrovsk regional administration head) allegedly engaged
in land machinations.

Yuriy Boyko, the head of the Opposition Bloc, accused
the Poroshenko administration of engaging in political repressions in preparing
the criminal cases. He said he will make all efforts to defend his fellow party
members against the false accusations that he said will fall apart. “All this
means one thing – sensing its end, the government is trying to do the maximum
damage against the opposition ahead of the elections,” Boyko said, referring to
the March 2019 presidential vote.

Zenon Zawada: The
president is intensifying pressure against his political opponents ahead of the
March 2019 presidential elections in ways that violate Western norms and
standards. These criminal cases could have been open years earlier, yet the
Poroshenko administration has chosen this time period instead. The Opposition
Bloc is the latest political party to complain of targeted persecution,
following such claims by the Fatherland party led by Yulia Tymoshenko and the
Civic Position led by Anatoliy Grytsenko.

The Poroshenko administration is going to intensify
this pressure with the goal of getting re-elected. Eventually, Western
authorities will be warning him about ensuring the elections meet international
standards, including campaign conditions. There is a lot of pent up social
pressure that could erupt – as it did under President Yanukovych with the
EuroMaidan – if the public determines that the elections were not conducted
fairly. As Yanukovych had rehabilitated an otherwise discredited Tymoshenko,
Poroshenko risks rehabilitating the discredited Yanukovych team in the eyes of
the public if by turning them into political victims.