Ottawa— Robert Sopuck, Chair of the all-party Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group and MP for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, issued the following statement in response to the arrest by the Ukrainian Government of former defence minister Valeriy Ivashchenko.
“I am deeply concerned by this new wave of what appears to be politically motivated prosecutions. The appearance of political bias in judicial proceedings has become increasingly clear with the arrest of Mr. Ivashchenko.
On behalf of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, I urge the Ukrainian government to strengthen judiciary independence and continue to support efforts to build a peaceful, democratic and free society in Ukraine.”
Ivaschenko was sentenced to five years in prison under charges of abuse of office. This follows recent convictions of other ex-cabinet members including Hryhoriy Filipchuk, Yuriy Lutsenko, and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
