Will the new Prosecutor General pass the test?

New Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, appointed on February 10, held his first press conference at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center on February 16. “I made a promise to investigate the Euromaidan criminal cases and proceedings against high officials as well as fight corruption,” the head of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGOU) stated at once. “The Euromaidan cases will be sent to court in the coming days.” Shokin also revealed his achievements during these few days in his new post. According to him, he has reorganized the Central Investigation Department, replaced the deputy prosecutor general who oversaw these high-profile cases, and fired first deputy head of the Central Investigation Department Sviatoslav Lahaniak who was directly responsible for these cases.

However, a major challenge for Shokin is the Gongadze case, which is currently heard by the Court of Appeal of Kyiv. “I did not start the Gongadze case investigation,” the head of the PGOU remarked. “However, it was when I took the office of deputy prosecutor general in 2002 that I created an investigative team and we had Oleksii Pukach arrested. They then ‘retired’ the entire team, but we still managed to find three killers in our time. I am confident that the new team which will be created soon will find or name not only the individuals who executed that crime, but principals to the Gongadze murder as well,” the prosecutor general declared.

Given the recent high-profile statements by parties to the case and newly-revealed shortcomings in it, The Day asked Shokin who would be the case’s top-level supervisor in the PGOU, whether prosecutors involved in this case at the appeals stage would be removed from it, and whether a case would be opened against Judge Melnyk of Pechersk court. “I will oversee the Gongadze case investigation myself,” the head of the PGOU replied. “As for the prosecutors working on the case, they will be replaced if they display a wrong attitude. We will decide whether to move against Melnyk as well.”