Foreign Ministry surprised by international community's reaction to annulment of Vlasenko's mandate

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine is surprised by attempts by foreign states to give a political assessment to court rulings and processes that are issued and conducted according to Ukrainian legislation.

Ukraine took note of selective attention exclusively to the case of opposition parliamentarian Serhiy Vlasenko, reads a statement of the ministry's Information Policy Department. "This gives an impression that some foreign politicians leave open the possibility of members of the opposition political forces being able to avoid being held to account before the law," the ministry said. Foreign Ministry called on its international partners to refrain "from groundless accusations against the legislative, executive, and judicial power of Ukraine" and expressed hope for their real support of Ukraine's efforts aimed at strengthening the rule of law, implementation of overall judicial reform in the country, as well as its movement towards European integration. As reported, on Wednesday, the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine ruled to annul Vlasenko's parliamentary mandate, having thus upheld a relevant lawsuit of speaker Volodymyr Rybak. The latter explained his appeal to the court by the fact that Vlasenko practices advocacy and is a parliament member at the same time, which is not allowed by the law. Vlasenko is a member of the defence team of jailed ex-Premier Yulia Tymoshenko in a number of criminal cases against her.