"Kiyevskiye Vedomosti" newspaper, Saturday, October 28, 1995

by Sergey Zakharin and Vadim Ryzhkov

[Translated into English by A.Prishchenko, 21/10/95]

There is no a decree or a law on abolition of death penalty in Ukraine, so sentences will be executed!

This is the essence of declaration of Ukrainian Procurator-General Grigoriy Vorsinov having been expressed yesterday at his first press conference in Dnepropetrovsk as a Procurator-General. He said this as a reply to the declaration of Ukrainian minister of justice Sergiy Golovaty on introducing a moratorium on death penalties in Ukraine.

As one can see, opinions of Ukrainian supreme juridical officials are opposite. It is not strange, because the problem worries humanity for a long time, entailing numerous attempts to find an alternative for the "eye for an eye" principle. Because the situation around death penalty has sharpened, "Vedomosti" [newspaper] has decided to make it possible for its readers to look more attentively at the problem or even to take the floor...

Speaking at the press conference in Dnepropetrovsk, Procurator-General Grigoriy Vorsinov said, that Ukraine is not ready for abolition of death penalty yet. And added, that even in Western democratic states, up to now they cannot make a simple decision on what we call a capital punishment: now they abolish death penalty, and now they introduce it again... In Ukraine the sphere of its usage was made even too cut-up: from numerous criminal cases to one: aggravated premeditated murder. As to the European Council may make us abolish death penalty, threatening with excommunication Ukraine of international community, this is, according to Procurator-General, simply a dictation.

Grigoriy Vorsinov has grounded his opinion of necessity of death penalty by facts witnessing to wild outburst of criminality in Ukraine. He told that he has visited Donetsk region "incognito" and was terrified of with what impunity bandits act there. The idea of Procurator-General was clear enough: organizers and executors of murders must bear punishment adequate to gravity of their crimes. That is, took the other's life, give the yours!

And what directions did Sergiy Golovaty follow while making his declaration? We asked him this question, and he answered:

-- For some reason, information about future abolition of death penalty is presented as a sensation. We have submitted an appeal for joining European Council as far as three years ago. This step meant: we are ready to accept the Statute of European Council and to join the appropriate conventions, including one on abolition of death penalty. This is my opinion: a state cannot deprive man of what he was gifted by nature, by God. A man should die only by his own... Apropos, death sentences do not influence criminal situation in the state. "Kievskiye Vedomosti" has already wrote about it...

The official, who is responsible now for places where any punishment is executed anyway, also has his opinion. Here is what the minister of interior affairs of Ukraine Yuri Kravchenko told "Kievskiye Vedomosti":

-- An abolition of death penalty is a humane act. Life is a unique phenomenon. It is erroneous to suppose, that having destroyed an individual we will restore justice. Here is the question: what to do? The punishment should be adequate to the committed crime. I would like to propose a change of the system of penalties' assignment. It is necessary to introduce the term of "life imprisonment". In other countries criminals are sentences to 80, 200, 600 years of imprisonment. Is seems to be funny and even absurd. But for a man, such sentence IS death. The death of active life. Passing such sentences, we will also bring society to sanity. A murderer is sentenced to 15 years by trials. After that he gets free and starts to kill again. Having introduced a life imprisonment, we will be able to protect society from potential recidivists...

Director of the department of criminal and legislative problems of the State and Legality Institute of Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences Alexander Svetlov:

-- I consider that death penalty must be abolished in principle. The state should not mortify its citizens. But, taking under consideration the concrete conditions and the fact, that there are murders by order and exceptionally severe murders, in exclusive cases, I think, we should use death penalty.

Natalia Krubetskaya, a pensioner:

-- Death penalty should not be abolished. Should not. Mafia will harness us then at all. A trial will give 10 years, and after six, you see, they set him free "for a good behaviour". And then think: how would relatives of the victim feel when they learn how humane were the trial and the law concerning their offender?

Vitaliy Chizh, a programmer:

-- Death penalty can be abolished abroad only. In the whole England, for example, few murders are committed annually than just in Kyiv city. It is necessary to restrain criminality. Or what will we get? A criminal kills, rapes, robs, and they cannot sentence him more than to 15 years? Though, the term is respectable, after which not a man but nothing comes out of a prison. And more. We will join European Council without abolition of death penalty too: these resolutions are of recommendation kind.

Alexandra Pogorelova, housemaid with a higher education:

-- A national referendum must be carried out on this question. And we should do as people decides. Personally I'm against abolition of death penalty. Those who are sentenced to be shot are real beasts. An how many maniacs and rapers we have!

They say: how many people, so many opinions... Often it is really so, but this time the question is much like the Hamlet's one: to be or not to be death penalty in Ukraine? And if one listens to main arguments of adherents and opponents of "murder in law" attentively, one can make such a list:

"TO KILL!"

1. An amount of evil done by a punishment should be appropriate to the amount of evil done by the criminal. Premeditated murder should be punished with death penalty. The principle of justice will be violated if there will not be equality between the punishment and the crime.

2. If death penalty will be abolished, a danger will threat the life of society, because there are criminals that take human life for nothing. If the capital punishment exists, a criminal will be afraid, at least, of his own death.

3. Death penalty cannot be abolished in one state and not abolished in another, because the other state will shelter criminals that can be sentences to death in their homelands.

"NOT TO KILL!"

1. Human life is gifted by God, and only God can deprive of it. Everyone should die by his own death.

2. A state, passing sentence to death, becomes similar to a murderer, taking a revenge on an offender and killing him.

3. Here is what professor Foynitskiy writes in his book "A Book of Books": "An influence of death penalty in the society is much more negative, depraving. During the time when guillotine did the most if France, a toy instrument of beheading was in every house; children guillotined birds, cats, etc. for fun. All this illustrates, that death penalty makes effect opposite to the expected one."

4. Plus -- a trial mistake is quite possible. It's better to leave a thousand guilty alive then to sentence to death one not guilty.

To understand the problem better, let's refer to history and statistics. We will found, that everything has been before... In the beginning of 1917, due to October revolution, death penalty was abolished in Russian Empire. But in summer of the same year it was restored at the front.

After the victory of bolshevism, "shooting" sentences were not passed for some time. But then the capital punishment has become unprecedentedly and monstrously often. If one turns to official information, in 1917-1918 bodies of All-Russia Special Committee have executed 6671 people with no trial. Since 1921 till 1954, again according to official information, 642 thousand were executed. But no state in the world except USSR ever afforded this...

During times of Khruschov, the capital punishment started to be used in cases of economical crimes. In 1962 death penalty for raping was introduced. Meanwhile, the number of grave crimes steadily grew.

During last five years of USSR existence, more than two thousands were sentences to death. And in Ukraine, according to Sergiy Golovaty, 143 death penalties were passed last year, and 74 ones during six months of this year.

Death penalty was entirely abolished in 40 countries. In 45 countries it is used only during wartime.

There are many ways to kill a man. Today in those countries where death penalty was not abolished, seven types of mortifying is used: hanging (76 countries), shooting (86), beheading (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates), beating with stones (Iran), electric chair, toxical gas, fatal injection (USA).

According to Procurator-General of Ukraine Grigoriy Vorsinov (as he said in the same conference), shooting, in comparison with electric chair, gas or hanging, is more "hygienic".

Our editors office has received a letter from Larisa Grigoryevna Snitko. Her son Igor, 26, was sentenced to death by Zaporozhye regional court for aggravated premeditated murder. Igor has killed a man and a woman. During commitment of the crime he was drunk and didn't realize what he is doing...

Larisa Grigoryevna writes: "All lawyers said that we had a bad attorney. Bad -- means we paid little. Many murders by order are committed in Zaporozhye, and assassins are not sentenced to death... They just alluded me: if I had money, they didn't pass a "shooting" article. For ten thousand dollars I could contact with the prosecutor. This is the justice. But what should we, common and unprotected, do? Enter the reception-room of Supreme Court or of the President's administration. Who sits there in the queues? Beggarly and despaired people, who go to the capital from the whole country to seek justice. Those who have thick purses, are unpunished, are out of law. Commission for pardon judges by default. They just sign it, like in 1937, no understanding. Please, print this letter. We common people can do nothing. We are treated like nothing. I passed all instances. Sought the truth..."

In a month we have received another letter from Larisa Grigoryevna. She sent us poems by Igor that were written in the cell of condemned. One of the poems is titled "I repent"...

... Vladimir Ivanovich Baskakov wrote us too. His son Alexander was killed. Guilty were not found, though witnesses saw persons who taunted Alexander. Vladimir Ivanovich affirms, that he knows names of murderers. Regional prosecutor and director of regional militia department say: "You can complain where you want. It is your right. Anywhere you will -- all will turn to us."

Baskakov writes: "What for my child should lie in earth, having left two orphans? Murderers roam, and walk, and are happy of life, and grin at our disaster openly, because we are deprived of rights and protection... At my age, I don't want to follow the way of crime, but the duty of a father obliges me to... For the murderer, that treated my son so severely, should obtain the appropriate position..."

Having abolished death penalty, will the state bring up a sense of revenge in its citizens?

APROPOS. In the beginning of summer, informs out reporter Sergey Yanovsky, a pumped trial has begun in Kherson regional court concerning a case of 25 years old Alexander Polischuk, charged with serial murders of women and children. The raper fell upon his victims in buildings' doorways and apartments with a knife or strangled them. He scores 11 corpses and more than 30 murderous assaults. In July main trial investigation was finished. However, the chairwoman of the trial Nina Radchenko, member of criminal cases stuff, had to organize additional psychiatry examination to find out some nuances of behaviour of the accused. Alexander Polischuk was deported under guard to Kharkov.

Another month passed. The accused turned to a familiar investigation cell in Kherson safely. And volumes of the case ... were left in Kharkov. A letter from the sanitarium was received, informing that documents can not be sent because of too high special post expenses -- 7 million UAK [about 40 USD]. As usual, there is no money. After consulting with Kharkov regional court, the latter promised to bear expenses. And trial hearings of the case of "Choker from Kherson" must restart before the end of November.

This prolongation may have saved Alexander Polischuk's life. Indeed, a death penalty, having been promoted by relatives of victims and having seemed so real, now may be replaced with a long imprisonment. Not in vain the new Ukrainian minister of justice Sergiy Golovaty declares significantly, that since September "shooting" sentences won't be executed in practice.