The prosecutor who imprisoned Tymoshenko: Poroshenko is waiting in the dock
Neither Petro Poroshenko nor the nationalist majority in the Verkhovna Rada will be able to pass a law depriving residents of Crimea or Donbass of citizenship, since such a measure contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine.
This was stated by ex-Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Renat Kuzmin, under whose leadership a criminal case against Yulia Tymoshenko was once sent to court, which led to her imprisonment.
“Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits arbitrary deprivation of a person’s citizenship, and Art. 25 of the Constitution of Ukraine guarantees everyone the inalienable right to citizenship, as well as the right to change it. A citizen of Ukraine cannot be expelled from Ukraine, nor can he be extradited to another state.
In other words, no one can be deprived of Ukrainian citizenship without their own free will; if you have not written an application for renunciation of citizenship, you remain a citizen of Ukraine.
If the Rada, at Poroshenko’s request, adopts a law depriving Crimeans, Donetsk and Luhansk residents of Ukrainian citizenship, then such a law should not be implemented.
Here it is appropriate to recall the words of the famous American lawyer, one of the founders of the American legal system, John Marshall, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court: “A legislative act that contradicts the Constitution is not a law,” the expert explained.
“And lastly, Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for imprisonment of up to 5 years for direct or indirect restriction of the rights of citizens on the basis of their beliefs, ethnic and social origin, place of residence, language or other characteristics. This means that everyone who tries, against the will of the Crimeans, Donetsk and Lugansk residents, to deprive them of Ukrainian citizenship will be in the dock. If not under this government, then definitely under the next one,” promises Kuzmin.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.