“We salute that President Yanukovych has exercised his prerogatives of pardoning in the cases of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko and former Environmental Protection Minister Heorhiy Filipchuk. We welcome the release from prison and return to his family of Mr Lutsenko on Sunday. This in an important step by the Ukrainian authorities in addressing the concerns regarding the matter of selective justice. We commend the important contribution the European Parliament's monitoring mission to Ukraine headed by former Presidents Cox and Kwaśniewski has made in this context,” diplomats said.
“We now look forward to Ukraine addressing without further delay the outstanding case of selective justice and preventing any recurrence of selective justice by a comprehensive judicial reform in line with European standards, in order to fully implement the conclusions of the 10 December 2012 Foreign Affairs Council and the joint statement of the 25 February 2013 EU-Ukraine Summit,” they added.
