UCC at Trial of Opposition Leader

Kyiv, September 2, 2011 - Representatives from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress attended court proceedings of the Pecherskyy Regional Court in the Yulia Tymoshenko case over the week of August 22-26, 2011.

“The UCC continues to support human rights in Ukraine, a proper application of the rule of law and an end to politically motivated court cases and the application of selective justice,” stated UCC President Paul Grod.

Mrs. Tymoshenko has been denied access to a physician by the judge and has continually been given insufficient time to prepare for witness testimony. She has also been jailed while she clearly does not represent a flight risk.

Paul Grod spoke with Mrs. Tymoshenko who thanked the Ukrainian Canadian community, the Ukrainian World Congress and the Government of Canada for their support. She asked us to continue to raise concerns over her illegal arrest and malicious prosecution but cautioned not to push Ukraine away from a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU). Ukraine’s future direction is tied to a successful EU FTA.

“We [the UCC] are calling for Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko to be released from custody immediately and be given transparent and fair trials that will comply with the Constitution of Ukraine and international democratic norms. We implore and urge the court and prosecutor’s office to ensure this,” said Grod. “Not just organizations, but also governments… have expressed their concern and said that this trial is hindering Ukraine’s democratization. And we are concerned that Ukraine’s image will be damaged by this trial, and [that] of Ukrainian courts.”

Canada, the US and the European Union have expressed deep concern over what they have called a “politically motivated” trial.

The Ukrainian Canadians who attended the hearings were surprised by some of the developments that had occurred, including:

(1) The defence team was provided 5000 pages of materials that the prosecution filed with the judge and had only one day [Friday, August 26] to review them. The defence team said it would take them at least a week to review and understand the materials.

(2) The defence team was not allowed to meet with Mrs. Tymoshenko over the weekend in jail, and could only see her just prior to hearings.

(3) The defence team requested that the judge provide a 3-4 delay in the trial to complete their review of the documents and meet with their client to understand their relevance and prepare a response.

(4) The judge denied the defence request for an adjournment.

“In any court of law in Canada, the defence would have been given 3-4 weeks, if not months, to prepare a defence. This is an unbelievable and gross violation of her civil rights,” stated Canada Ukraine Foundation President Bohdan Onyschuk. “Ms. Tymoshenko also requested to see her own doctor... and the judge adjourned the hearing on Friday ‘to have her examined by a doctor’, but… her own physician was denied access to her. The judge ruled that he finds her in good health, and dismissed the motion.”

The Constitution of Ukraine (Article 49) states that every citizen of Ukraine has the right to protect his/her health; and Article 28 states that no person can be examined against their will. The judge would not hear these articles from the Constitution, and ruled her motion out of order.

Ukrainian Canadians who attended the court proceedings included: UCC President Paul Grod, LUC Executive Director Borys Potapenko, CUF Chairman Bohdan Onyschuk, CUCC VP Roman Sawycky, LUC - W Chrystyna Bidiak, and UCC Executive Director Taras Zalusky.

PHOTOS

1 - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister  Yulia Tymoshenko at trial

2 - UCC President Paul Grod in front of Kyiv's Pechersky Regional Court