Mukachevo residents hoped that peace and quiet would come to their town after 18 April, but in vain. The confrontation persists. However, it has migrated from the town squares and streets into the courtrooms, just as before the elections. Having anticipated the opposition’s reaction to the officially announced election outcomes (which was easy), the authorities decided to take the lead and outplay their opponents yet another time. On the day after the voting, one of the former mayoral candidates V.Svyryda, (the leader who had repeatedly appealed against V.Baloha’s registration) filed a claim deeming the elections invalid because of numerous procedural violations by E.Nuser and his team. The acting Chair of the Mukachevo Municipal Court ruled, upon speedy consideration of the case, to disallow the claim as no violations (such as canvassing on the voting day, tampering with voters or duplicating protocols) had been registered. As for V.Baloha’s claim, it was first sent to Tiachiv District Court, but then, without prior notice, forwarded to Uzhgorod. On 26 April, the acting Chair of Uzhgorod Municipal Court heard the case and made a decision, analogous to that of his Mukachevo colleague. V.Baloha could not possibly make it to the hearing, as the relevant notice had been sent to him from Uzhgorod to Mukachevo by mail only several hours before the trial. So the opposition representatives learned about the decision a day later from the Internet, but failed to get the judge’s explanations, since he took sick leave.
Meanwhile the Oblast governor prepared an official recommendation which would confer the rank of Major General on the Chief of the Oblast Police Department, Colonel Vasyl Vartsaba, thus showing willful disregard for sharp criticism of the Mukachevo elections in Ukraine (including the part of the country’s leadership) and in the world (including the “fusing” of authorities, law enforcement and criminal gangs in Trans-Carpathian Oblast). Yet in fact, this feigned composure and bustling activity cover the apprehension with which the Oblast authorities (along with the opposition and Mukachevo residents) are expecting the President’s decision on Mukachevo.
Since the election day, a group of MPs representing “Our Ukraine” has been in Trans-Carpathian Oblast to help V.Baloha move his case forward in different court instances. One of them, the Head of the Supreme Rada Standing Sub-committee for Legal Policy,Yuriy Karmazin, commented on the post-election developments for ZN:
- I am positive that by initiating a series of post-election court rulings, the authorities are preparing a bridgehead for their further advances. There is a notion of “prejudice” in jurisprudence meaning that all facts established in the course of trying one case are considered certain and admissible in the trying of another case without any additional evidence. Thus, today’s court trials will provide the body of evidence for future litigation. The manner in which it is all being done is a different story. I have been a lawyer for over 20 years. I have worked with prosecutors and judges, and taken part in drafting the new Criminal Code of Ukraine. But I could never imagine a situation like this, when law enforcement authorities and courts act in total contempt of the law and make decisions unfairly favouring one particular party. The impression is that Trans-Carpathian Oblast is not subject to national law and that the judicial authorities here interpret laws as they wish. The procedure breaches during the election campaign were so egregious and so cynical that there is no need to send in envoys from the Security Service of Ukraine or the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate them. There is nothing to investigate; everything is obvious. A couple of experienced investigators and an uncorrupt judge can do the job of drawing a true picture and calling wrongdoers to account.
Unfortunately, we had underestimated the gravity of the situation in the Trans-Carpathians. When MP S.Ratushniak tried to persuade us at the Supreme Rada sessions that the region is ruled by criminals, he did not exaggerate. Now that we see N.Shufrych [MP from the SDPU(o) faction] carrying the bag for Deputy Prosecutor General V.Kudriavtsev, who has come to Oblast to objectively investigate the case, or the governor planning to promote the police chief, we cannot help asking ourselves if the local authorities will ever exhaust their cynicism.
I hope the Council of Europe will strongly condemn the Mukachevo authorities’ practice. I also hope the President will voice his unprejudiced view of these events. I still believe he was not aware of these tremendous abuses of power. The President, with all his weaknesses, is capable of taking independent, justified decisions. I learned that when I worked on his team. What has happened and is happening in Mukachevo is a plot, a stratagem designed to try the people’s patience. The authorities intend to undermine the citizens’ trust in the supremacy of law. Yet when the law enforcement authorities and the judiciary keep silent about the abuses, the street starts talking. The outcomes of the Mukachevo conflict will affect Ukraine’s societal and political development. They will determine, to a great extent, whether this development will be peaceful and civilized or, God forbid, violent and unlawful. The official media describe life today in Mukachevo as serene and mundane, but it is not so. The town reminds me of a compressed spring. All Ukraine knows of massive falsification in Mukachevo and, therefore, fears lest this spring could “shoot out.” The ZN correspondent contacted Ernest Nuser to hear his story.
- In my opinion, what is going on in and around Mukachevo has very little to do with the elections and the mayor’s position. Yet it has everything to do with a severe confrontation between two political forces, which can hardly be instrumental in addressing the people’s everyday problems. I have not attended any of the latest court trials. I am too busy with my everyday mayoral duties. We are getting ready for the Municipal Council session and the meeting of its executive board that will consider urgent issues of land plot allocation, budget outlays, and some property-related matters. Recently Mukachevo has received substantial funding from the national budget but, nevertheless, we have a lot of problems that the acting municipal authorities, given their provisional status, could not have addressed in due time. So we have to do it now.
I believe the political and social situation in the town is normal. Of course, some people refuse to accept the election results; dozens of people hold daily rallies in front of the Town Hall. There is no absolute peace and quiet, but there is no acute tension either, no matter what the media might be saying. Most of the residents are preoccupied with their regular chores, rather than politics. What they need is public order and stable conditions for life and work.
The law enforcement delegation and a parliamentary commission continue to investigate the Mukachevo events. They are expected to make their findings public very soon. Regardless of their findings, life in the town goes on. If certain court decisions are made which change the existing status quo, I will take them for granted and won’t appeal against them. .
