Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KYIV235
2007-02-01 12:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: SHCHERBAN CASE BEING SWEPT UNDER RUG

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM UP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5096
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHKV #0235/01 0321243
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 011243Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1077
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000235 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: SHCHERBAN CASE BEING SWEPT UNDER RUG

REF: A. 05 KIEV 3144


B. 06 KYIV 4233

Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(a,b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000235

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: SHCHERBAN CASE BEING SWEPT UNDER RUG

REF: A. 05 KIEV 3144


B. 06 KYIV 4233

Classified By: Political Counselor Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4(a,b,d).


1. (C) Summary. It appears increasingly unlikely that former
Sumy governor Volodymyr Shcherban, accused of election
rigging and a number of other serious charges, will end up in
court. Shcherban, who fled to the U.S. in the spring of 2005
to avoid arrest in Ukraine, was detained for overstaying his
visa, and eventually agreed to voluntary departure and return
to Ukraine in November 2006 after the Yanukovych Government
came to power. Regions MPs posted bail for Shcherban upon
his arrival, and the Prosecutor's Office seems uninterested
in pursuing the case, although it remains officially open for
now. If Shcherban had been tried and convicted, he would
have been the most senior official to be convicted of
election violations from 2004.


2. (C) Comment: A number of recent developments related to
Shcherban and his past associates underscore Ukraine's
changing political and legal dynamics: the Sumy prosecutor's
office announced on January 22 that it was considering
prosecuting seven witnesses who had provided testimony in a
related case that landed Shcherban's associate in jail for
election fraud; the Sumy police chief who carried out
election-related violence at Shcherban's request in August
2004 is now Deputy Interior Minister; and Shcherban is even
considering a return to politics. People we spoke with in
Sumy now appear more guarded--a marked change from the
optimism we heard there in August 2006. Despite the criminal
case against Shcherban formally remaining open, we do not
expect Shcherban to be convicted or even required to appear
in court. End summary and comment.

A brief recap of Shcherban
--------------


3. (SBU) Volodymyr Shcherban stands accused of election
rigging, extortion, tax evasion, and abuse of office during
his terms as governor of Sumy province (1999-2004). (Note:
ref A reviewed extensive Embassy coverage of Shcherban's
activities over the years. End Note) Ukrainian criminal
charges were filed in April 2005, in the aftermath of the

Orange Revolution. Shcherban fled Ukraine in March 2005 and
entered the U.S. in April on a B-2 visa. He was served
notice to appear before a U.S. immigration court in October
2005 after overstaying his visa; he eventually agreed to
voluntary departure in October 2006. Two of Shcherban's Sumy
associates, former mayor Volodymyr Omelchenko and former
local council member Olha Krutushkina, are the highest
ranking officials to be convicted of abuse of office and 2004
election-related crimes under the Kuchma regime. Both were
sentenced to multi-year prison terms, although Krutushkina
was recently released early (see below).

A Notorious Figure Returns...
--------------


4. (SBU) Shcherban returned to Ukraine on November 4, where
he was remanded to custody to await formal charges. In a
twist, the Prosecutor's Office allowed three MPs from the
Party of Regions to post bail and take Shcherban home to wait
under unmonitored "house arrest." (ref B) Shcherban and his
U.S. lawyers launched a high-profile press campaign
vigorously defending his actions in 2004 and denying the
charges levied against him. In a December 22 press
interview, Shcherban acknowledged that his two million dollar
bail had been paid by Regions MP and financier Rinat
Akhmetov. (Note: Shcherban's son, also a Regions MP, works
as an executive for an Akhmetov-controlled company).

...Awaits Judgment...
--------------


5. (C) The Ministry of the Interior (MOI)/police initially
pursued the charges against Shcherban vigorously, but once
they sent their findings to the Prosecutor General's office
(PGO),the case slowed to a crawl. Then Interior Minister
Lutsenko blasted PGO inaction in the Shcherban case to
Ambassador November 19, claiming the MOI/police were in "open
warfare" with the PGO. Prosecutor-General Medvedko claimed
to an interviewer on December 25 that Shcherban case was
moving very slowly because witnesses wanted Shcherban to be
present when they testified; the case had been held up until
Shcherban returned to Ukraine. He added that if they found
the basis for prosecuting Shcherban, they would.


6. (SBU) A January 23 letter from the PGO in answer to
LegAtt's official letter of inquiry on the status of the
Shcherban investigation reported that the tax evasion case
had been closed due to lack of evidence. Charges were still

KYIV 00000235 002 OF 002


pending on three other alleged crimes--prevention of
exercising electoral rights; infliction of bodily injuries on
a judge or law enforcement officer; and overstepping
authority that led to harming the rights of a group of
people. The letter said that they were also investigating
three other possible crimes. The letter closed by stating
that when all investigations were complete, a "well-grounded
decision" would be made.

...And is Reborn?
--------------


7. (SBU) In a lengthy December 22 interview with on-line news
site Glavred, Shcherban insisted that he was no longer a
suspect, but rather a witness. He insisted that the charges
against him had been falsified and he was waiting for them to
be lifted. He claimed that Yuriy Lutsenko, when Minister of
the Interior, had targeted him for political reasons to
increase his own stature. In the interview, he said he
talked regularly to former President Kuchma and that Akhmetov
was a friend. Shcherban then said that he wanted and was
obligated to return to politics, once the criminal charges
were cleared up.


8. (SBU) Interestingly, around the same time, an article
appeared in Segodnya, a newspaper owned by Akhmetov, accusing
presidential brother Petro Yushchenko of trying to force
Shcherban to sell all his business interests. The article
insinuated that the charges against Shcherban and his
subsequent flight to the U.S. were a result of Shcherban's
refusal to cooperate with Petro Yushchenko.


9. (C) Comment: While Petro Yushchenko is no angel, this
story seems to have been planted to undermine the credibility
of the ongoing investigation against Shcherban. End comment.

Developments on the Ground: The Old Team Vindicated?
-------------- --------------


10. (C) Alla Fedorina of the Sumy Press club told us on
January 24 that Shcherban has not been back to Sumy since he
returned to Ukraine and that, in fact, he had sold off some
of his business interests in the oblast. She told us that
people had lost interest in the legal proceedings, but added
that people felt insecure and were reluctant to tell the
truth because they believed their lives may be in danger if
they did. Perhaps supporting such sentiments, the Sumy
prosecutor's office announced on January 22 that it was
considering opening criminal cases against seven witnesses
who testified against Shcherban associate Olha Krutushkina,
who was sentenced to a 5-year jail term in 2005 for
falsifying election results but released early in December
2006 after a Supreme Court ruling.


11. (C) The former head of Interpol's bureau in Ukraine
Kyrylo Kulykov, who just left his job to work for Lutsenko's
new civic movement, told us on January 31 that the witnesses
in Shcherban's case had begun recanting once Shcherban
returned to Ukraine. According to Kulykov, these people were
afraid for their lives, but there was no way the MOI could
offer adequate protection to all of them. In his view, at
the end of the day, Shcherban would never be convicted.


12. (C) Comment: When we visited Sumy in August 2006, people
seemed almost giddy to be free of what they had seen as
Shcherban's repressive rule. Now people seem concerned that
there may have been a reversal of gains made and are acting
more cautiously. Fedorina said that people are convinced
that either pressure or bribes were involved in the Supreme
Court decision freeing Krutushkina, as well as the decision
to prosecute the people whose testimony contributed to her
conviction. A similar message of vindicating Shcherban's old
Sumy team and forgetting past election-related sins was sent
when former Sumy police chief, Mykhalo Plekhanov, who ordered
the violent dispersal of student protesters in August 2004 at
Shcherban's behest, was appointed as Deputy Interior Minister
in December 2006. End comment.


13. (U) Visit Embassy Kyiv's classified website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/kiev.
Taylor