The Ukrainian verb "sadzhaty" has two meanings: to "plant" and to "put behind bars." When Volodymyr Zelensky, a former television comic, ran for president of Ukraine, he used this pun to make clear he would go after corrupt lawmakers if elected. Now that his party, Servant of the People, won an absolute majority in July's snap parliamentary elections, he is apparently making good on that promise, 112 International writes.
Ukraine's judiciary has started targeting corrupt lawmakers. Hardly a day has gone by without news about the investigations into former President Petro Poroshenko and his allies. On July 25, Poroshenko was even summoned to Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation. Poroshenko, who has retained his seat in parliament, was asked to give testimony regarding alleged tax evasion surrounding the sale of his shipbuilding company — something he dismissed as "allegations."
Zelensky's absolute majority in parliament gives him more power than his predecessor. He wants to do away with lawmakers' immunity, which would allow people such as Poroshenko to be prosecuted. Many Ukrainians, it seems, want to see lawmakers on trial.
"This urge has always existed in Ukrainian society," said Olexiy Haran, a professor of politics at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, noting it is in part due to the passive role the judiciary played under Poroshenko. "I think Zelensky will be very tempted to organize something like show trials."
Haran noted the importance of whether these trials "are conducted in accordance with the rule of law, or if this will be a case of selective justice." After all, he said, Zelensky announced Poroshenko and Klitschko would be tried and the fact that they have now been summoned to give testimony "is a deeply worrying sign."
