Experts: Stripping Tymoshenko's lawyer of his deputy mandate may irritate EU
Kyiv, March 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Serhiy Vlasenko, a defense lawyer for former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, is unlikely to be stripped of his parliamentary powers, as this may cause a new wave of criticism from the European Union, Ukrainian political scientists believe.
"It could be a fly in the ointment... Unfortunately, such incidents, if they continue and if Vlasenko's detractors suddenly try to bring this case not only to depriving him of his mandate, but also to his arrest, it will be a very strong argument for critics of Ukraine in the European Union: the question of selective justice and the persecution of the opposition will again be raised," Director of the Penta Center for Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
"This could become the fly in the ointment that turns Europe away from signing the [association] agreement with Ukraine," the analyst said.
While speaking about the possible causes of the situation with Vlasenko's parliamentary powers, he said: "By depriving Vlasenko of his mandate and through a conflict between pro-government and opposition factions, it's possible to keep parliament in a situation of sluggish parliamentary crisis, which resumes and then subsides, and the parliament will not be working seriously. Another option is the case of [former Prime Minister Yulia] Tymoshenko. A rational option will be the option when Vlasenko finally remains an MP, but stops being a lawyer for Tymoshenko."
Fesenko said that Vlasenko was not only a legal, but also a political communicator between Tymoshenko and the Batkivschyna faction.
Director of Ukraine's Institute of Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov, in turn, said that Vlasenko would unlikely be stripped of his parliamentary powers.
"Will Vlasenko be deprived of his mandate? No, he won't. I think there's a certain game of intimidation going on to reduce the degree of his activity," he said.