"Vseukrainskiye Vedomosti" newspaper, Thursday, October 26, 1995

by Mikhail Skoryk

[Translated into English by A.Prishchenko, 30/10/95]

Our correspondent met with Grigoriy Timofeyevich [Vorsinov], who gave the first interview at his new post of Procurator-General of Ukraine to the "Vseukrainskiye Vedomosti" newspaper.

Prosecutor-General of Ukraine his recently celebrated his 60 years in Dnepropetrovsk in prosecutor's "Pènatès". He is firm in body and spirits, has a resolute and just character. Ambitious, but despites bootlickers.

Having a tremendous practical experience of work in offices of public prosecutors, he made much for creating an operational Directorate of Public Prosecutions for observation of legislation in the region. That's why 14 regional Public Prosecutors of Ukraine in their letter to the President asked for the choice of G.Vorsinov for this post.

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-- The Ukrainian community discussed actively the sensation of abolition of death penalty. Could you add essential arguments to your impromptu in the parliament?

-- First, such a decision can not be taken individually. Thus, we can't speak of a legislative decision yet. Second, I have spoken on this exceptionally complicated problem in my speech at the Supreme Rada of Ukraine. The problem is that death penalty for grave crimes is not only a juridical phenomenon, but also a social and psychologic one.

When I read argumentation of lawyers and journalists for abolition of death penalty, I agree with many of them. But as a practicing lawyer, who've seen many grave cases during tens of years of a hard work, and as a prosecutor, I should consider the value and exceptional importance of lives of crime victims. For some reason, nobody of those, who struggle for abolition of death penalty, ever mentioned them: honest and loyal citizens, and even their posthumous right for a just punishment of the criminal.

That's why I told this at the Supreme Rada and I tell this now: will the criminal situation change, will the legal condition of the state grow better, -- and we will be able to refuse death penalty. Now there is no such possibility. Though, I don't think that the level of democracy is determined by the grade of a penalty. Who says that USA is not a stronghold of liberty and democracy and observation of human rights? But for certain crimes the capital punishment is used there too.

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