Posted on 12/15/2004 3:43:02 PM PST by Agog
Ukraine judges 'under pressure' to reverse ruling By Tom Warner in Kiev Published: December 15 2004 17:37 | Last updated: December 15 2004 17:37
Volodymyr Lytvyn, the speaker of Ukraine's parliament, said on Wednesday that court judges were being pressured to reverse a decision that stripped Volodymyr Satsyuk, deputy chief of the SBU secret police, of parliamentary immunity.
Mr Satsyuk, who is also a member of parliament, hosted a late-night meeting with Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition leader, hours before the latter's poisoning symptoms first appeared in early September. An official investigation into the poisoning of the presidential candidate is under way.
The Kiev city appellate court ruled on Tuesday that Mr Satsyuk should be stripped of his parliamentary status, which had the effect of lifting his immunity to prosecution, on the grounds that members are not allowed to hold other executive positions.
But Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing president, is pushing to restore his immunity, which could block any investigation of his conduct.
Mr Lytvyn, speaking in parliament on Wednesday, said the court's judges were being "pressured" to reverse their ruling, as Mr Kuchma had signed a decree dismissing Mr Satsyuk from his SBU job. Mr Lytvyn said the decree was dated Monday but had come to light only after the court ruling.
Mr Lytvyn's speech provoked outrage from Mr Yushchenko's supporters in parliament, who called for an investigation of the presidential decree.
Mr Yushchenko had met SBU chief Igor Smeshko and Mr Satsyuk at the latter's villa outside Kiev on the night of September 5-6 to discuss the SBU's role in the presidential elections. Mr Yushchenko fell ill the next day and his condition gradually deteriorated until he was flown to the Rudolfinerhaus clinic in Vienna three days later.
Mr Kuchma's move to shield his ally follows earlier attempts by his family members to combat allegations that Mr Yushchenko was poisoned. The allegations were confirmed only last weekend when the Rudolfinerhaus clinic said it had found concentrations of dioxin in Mr Yushchenko's blood more than 1,000 times greater than normal levels.
Dr Michael Zimpfer, president of the clinic, said: "As far as I understand, [dioxins] can be produced by almost any laboratory."
Soon after Mr Yushchenko first claimed he had been poisoned, in a speech to parliament on September 21, a team of public relations experts from EuroRSCG, part of the Paris-based Havas Group, arrived in Vienna. The group was headed by Yffic Nouvellon, who had worked with Mr Kuchma's daughter, Elena Franchuk, and her businessman husband, Viktor Pinchuk, on projects in Kiev.
Mr Nouvellon's team arranged a press conference where Rudolfinerhaus's general manager, Lothar Wicke, contradicted the poisoning allegations. Mr Nouvellon also contacted international media, including the Financial Times, offering evidence that Mr Yushchenko had not been poisoned.
Mr Nouvellon did not reveal his connection to Mr Pinchuk, and when confronted about it insisted he did not know Mr Pinchuk and had never been to Kiev.
Dr Zimpfer said he cut the clinic's relationship with Mr Nouvellon's team after Mr Yushchenko had informed him of EuroRSCG's ties to the Kuchma family.
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