Tymoshenko Imprisonment

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to discuss an issue that I hoped I wouldn't need to bring up today but unfortunately I do. I am referring to the continued imprisonment of the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko, who has now sat in jail for almost 2 years.

In the fall of 2011 Ms. Tymoshenko was imprisoned for a 7-year term on charges that she abused her office in connection with a natural gas contract with Russia. I cannot judge the wisdom of that contract, but what is deeply troubling to me is the appearance of selective and politically motivated imprisonment of a former political leader in the democratic nation of Ukraine.

Ukraine is a promising and hopeful new member of the community of free-market democracies--one with a solid future in the West. It has strong ties to Europe and the United States.

This photo shows police officers leading former Ukranian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko out of the courtroom after the verdict in her case in Kiev on October 11, 2011.

Ukraine is a great nation. It has helped NATO in Bosnia, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It is a major contributor and a valuable international peacekeeper. It was an early leader in throwing away the shackles of the Soviet Union and declaring its own independence.

In 2004 Ms. Tymoshenko and countless other Ukrainians organized a series of historic protests known as the Orange Revolution to address electoral fraud in the Presidential election in those days.

Ukraine's future is clearly with the community of democracies, and that is why the imprisonment of this former Prime Minister is so troubling. When a nation is a member of a community of democracies, it can't selectively throw its political opponents in jail for questionable policy decisions. If a poor policy decision is made, let the voters decide at the ballot box.

In the neighboring dictatorship of Belarus, 2010 Presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, who had the temerity to run against the strong-man dictator Viktor Lukashenko, still sits in jail because he challenged the dictator in an election. I might remind my friends in Ukraine that they do not want to be compared to Belarus. They should be democratic.

Countless international human rights groups and other countries have decried the charges against Ms. Tymoshenko and called for her release. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution in January of 2012 declaring that the articles under which Ms. Tymoshenko was convicted were overly broad in application and effectively allow for ex post facto criminalization of normal political decisionmaking. Later that year both the European Parliament and our very own Senate passed resolutions condemning the sentencing of Ms. Tymoshenko and calling for her release.

The European Court of Human Rights, which settles cases of rights abuses after plaintiffs have exhausted appeals in their home country courts, recently considered this case and ruled that Ms. Tymoshenko's pretrial detention was unlawful, that the lawfulness of her detention had not been properly reviewed, her right to liberty had been restricted, and that she had no possibility to seek compensation for her unlawful deprivation. That is unacceptable.

I truly hope this ruling will finally create the circumstances for a face-saving way out of this mess. Unfortunately and regrettably, it has not happened. That is why I joined my colleagues, Senators RUBIO, BOXER, BARRASSO, MURPHY, and CARDIN, in submitting a resolution on the matter. It is simple and straightforward and expresses continued concern about Ms. Tymoshenko's selective and politically motivated detention.

I will close by saying that I was in Ukraine last year. I met with Prime Minister Azarov and President Yanukovych. They were generous hosts and very kind. They told me that something would be done in a positive way about Ms. Tymoshenko's imprisonment. That was a year ago and nothing has happened. I was optimistic then and I will remain optimistic, but I want the Ukraine Government to know that we are going to hold them to the standards of democracy. They cannot imprison political opponents. You beat them in an election, move on to lead, and you are held accountable by the people who vote.

I hope a decision will be made in the near future to release Ms. Tymoshenko.

Mr. DURBIN. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

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