Ukraine's procuracy focusing on charges of election fraud (03/27/05)

Ukraine's procuracy focusing on charges of election fraud

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Procurator General's Office of Ukraine, the government's lead prosecuting body, is gaining momentum in its attempts to bring charges against those who committed election fraud and falsified votes during the presidential election.

Viktor Shokin, the deputy procurator general, said on March 23 his office will prosecute at least two members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) for their role in falsifying votes.

He also raised the possibility that former CEC Chairman Serhii Kivalov would be held responsible.

"I don't want to jump too far ahead, but I think that since Serhii Vasyliovych was the head of the CEC, he will have to answer for his actions," Mr. Shokin told Channel 5 Ukraine's 24-hour television news station.

As of March 9 there were 255 alleged cases of criminal acts committed in relation to the presidential elections, according to the Procurator General's office.

Of these, the Ukrainian government is prosecuting 48 cases, while 16 cases are closed.

There are 105 criminal cases involving government employees, of which 68 cases involve members of local election committees, 16 cases involve police officers, and only 11 involve government authorities, according to the Procurator General's Office.

The Committee of Voters Ukraine (CVU) expressed its disappointment with much of the investigation into election fraud that has taken place so far.

In particular, the CVU is disappointed with prosecuting bodies for not pursuing enough investigations against high-ranking government officials who gave orders to commit election fraud.

Another concern is the unusual rate of investigations as broken down by oblasts, the committee said.

For example, 25 investigations are ongoing in Kirovohrad, 19 in Sumy oblast and 16 in Kyiv.

However, only one investigation each is occurring in the Donetsk Oblast, Odesa Oblast and Crimea, where some of the most serious fraud took place.

The CVU is funded by 15 private and government sources, including American and European groups, said Oleksander Chernenko, a committee spokesman.

The committee also asked that the procurator general investigate illegal interference into the computer database of the Central Election Committee during the first round of the presidential election.

Courts throughout Ukraine are currently prosecuting those engaged in election fraud and prosecutors are winning convictions.

In Vinnytsia, a court sentenced two residents to three years of imprisonment for exploding balloons full of red paint inside urns in order to ruin ballots.

In the town of Chechelnyk in the Vinnytsia Oblast, a court sentenced four defendants to one-and-a-half-year prison sentences for using fake absentee certificates, which are redeemed for voting ballots.

Earlier in the year, an election commission chair in Kirovohrad was sentenced to five years in prison for falsifying the election results on November 21, the second round of the presidential election.

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