Yanukovych justice minister arrested for alleged crime in 2010

Oleksandr Lavrynovych, the justice minister under
former President Viktor Yanukovych, was ordered under arrest on Sept. 15 by a
Kyiv district court for his role in the government’s illegal amending of the
Ukrainian constitution in 2010 to usurp power. Among those present for the
hearing were influential MPs Vadim Novinsky and Oleksandr Vilkul of the
Opposition Bloc, which is the successor to the Party of Regions, which fell
apart following the EuroMaidan protest and Yanukovych’s flight from Ukraine.

As his statement, Lavrynovych said he broke no laws
when serving as justice minister for former president Yanukovych. “They need to
distract the public’s attention, create the impression that there’s an
effective campaign against crime in Ukraine and that the prior criminal regime
is truly being persecuted, rather than being negotiated with,” he said in his
statement.

Lavrynovych’s party, the Opposition Bloc, accused the
Poroshenko administration of engaging in political persecution of its critics
with his arrest. “Spinning the flywheel of repressions against all those in
disagreement with the current course that’s against the people, the government
is destroying the remnants of the Ukrainian legal field and its legitimacy.”

Zenon Zawada: The timing
of Lavrynovych’s arrest is suspicious as it comes just as the election campaign
season is beginning. It’s amusing how authorities neglected to act earlier on
this case, and instead are portraying this arrest as some kind of justice
campaign against Yanukovych’s cronies.

Lavrynovych’s arrest also comes when the Poroshenko
administration is being accused of politically persecuting other political
rivals. In particular, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi alleges he was targeted with a
yearlong garbage blockade of his city to drive down his public support. Mikheil
Saaskashvili was deprived of his Ukrainian citizenship in July and last week,
investigators searched the property of key figures in the Fatherland party.

The Poroshenko administration may be overplaying its
hand with these actions. It could drive up support for rivals among the public,
which will be looking for some ways to vent their frustration with the
government’s handling of the war, as well as the poor socio-economic
conditions.