Lazarenko argues he faces torture, even death, if forced by INS to return to Ukraine (04/18/99)

Lazarenko argues he faces torture, even death, if forced by INS to return to Ukraine

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - A U.S. immigration court on April 12 began formal hearings on Pavlo Lazarenko's request for asylum. In arguing his case, the former prime minister of Ukraine said he could be tortured and possibly killed if he is forced to return to Ukraine.

The full-day hearing was held behind closed doors and no details have been made available to the public, other than an April 14 press release issued by Mr. Lazarenko's public relations counsel.

In that release, Mr. Lazarenko states, in part:

"On Monday, April 12, I asked the court to defer my removal back to Ukraine under the provisions of the International Convention Against Torture. The court has heard evidence that I could be subjected to torture if I am deported to Ukraine. A large number of reports by international and non governmental organizations of cases of torture and violence committed by Ukrainian officials, causing suffering, bodily injury and, in a number of cases, death, have been submitted to the court. The widespread use of torture in the Ukrainian penitentiary system has been confirmed by a United States Department of State report issued February 26.

"I am particularly concerned that my status as a high-profile political opponent to President Kuchma will expose me to intense physical and psychological coercion and that my human rights will be abused. ...

"Since my departure from Ukraine, Kuchma's investigators have engaged in illegal and abusive harassment of my relatives. My home and office in Ukraine have been raided and ransacked several times, and my property has been seized in violation of my rights of due process."

The Embassy of Ukraine in Washington offered a "no comment" when asked by The Weekly to react to Mr. Lazarenko's latest public statement.

RFE/RL Newsline reported that last week in Kyiv a Ukraine-based lawyer for Mr. Lazarenko said his client has every reason to expect that Washington will heed his plea for asylum. He added, "There are no grounds to refuse Lazarenko asylum, and furthermore, his life will be in danger if he is forced to return to Ukraine." He also confirmed that Mr. Lazarenko remains an official candidate in the presidential elections.

RFE/RL also reported that, according to his Kyiv lawyer, Mr. Lazarenko maintains that charges of misappropriating more than $2 million worth of state property in Ukraine and of money laundering in Switzerland are politically motivated.

Meanwhile, Eastern Economist reported that Ukraine's Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko said on April 14 that "former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko cannot take part in the presidential elections because he committed crimes against Ukraine and has to be arrested."

Mr. Potebenko added, "I'm confident Lazarenko will be returned to Ukraine by the U.S. government. The U.S. does not offer asylum to thieves." Eastern Economist also noted that Mr. Lazarenko's lawyer in Ukraine, Ihor Hrytsiak, announced on April 14 that Lazarenko's case had been adjourned and would get under way again at the beginning of May.

Contacted by The Ukrainian Weekly via telephone, Joe Grillo of Nicolazzo and Associates, a Boston-based firm hired by Mr. Lazarenko as communications counsel, said the one-day immigration hearing in San Francisco saw a number of witnesses testify on behalf of Mr. Lazarenko and regarding conditions in Ukraine. He could not say when a decision is expected in the asylum case.

Mr. Lazarenko remains in INS custody in a federal detention center.

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