• Topics / Politics and human rights
• Topics / The right to a fair trial
US Court to consider Lutsenko’s law suit against Prosecutor General and others
A ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in the suit lodged by former Internal Affairs Minister Yury Lutsenko against the Prosecutor General and several of his subordinates, will not be recognized in Ukraine, but is important nonetheless, Lutsenko’s defence lawyer says.
The U.S. Aliens Torts Statute allows foreign nationals to seek redress via US jurisprudence, however Ukraine does not have an agreement with the USA recognizing its jurisdiction in such cases.
The civil suit was filed on 14 December 2011 against Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, his first deputy Renat Kuzmin, prosecutor Anton Zinchenko and investigator Serhiy Voychenko.
Yury Lutsenko accuses them of trying to eliminate him as one of the leaders of political opposition in Ukraine using unlawful arrest and detention which has been arbitrarily extended since he was first arrested on 26 December 2010.
“This systematic state policy and practice has been effectively carried through politically-motivated investigations, false accusations and charges, as well as through sham court proceedings and show trials of Plaintiff, as well as through prolonged arbitrary detention, cruel inhumane and degrading treatment, and other violations of his fundamental human rights recognized under customary international law, ”
From reports at Ukrainska Pravda