Before issuing his decree on conferring the title of Hero of Ukraine on Stepan Bandera, Viktor Yushchenko should have foreseen all the consequences this decision would entail, both internationally and inside Ukraine, including legal purity of the edict, because formally Bandera has never been Ukraine’s citizen nor even a citizen of the Soviet Union.
As a result, this has provided those opposed to this edict with certain arguments. Consequently, the Donetsk District Administrative Court has recently recognized the ex-president’s decree null and void on the grounds that Bandera has never been a citizen of Ukraine. “Stepan Bandera is not a subject suitable for conferring this kind of award, because he is not a Ukrainian citizen,” the plaintiff, attorney Volodymyr Olentsevych said. An appeal against the court decision may be lodged in the Donetsk Oblast Court of Appeals within 10 days.
The speaker of ex-President Yushchenko, Iryna Vannykova, has already stated that a complaint will be lodged, “The Donetsk District Administrative Court has approved a political decision that has nothing in common with the law.”
Besides, the website maidan.org.ua has posted the following appeal: “Let’s unite in order to defend from the enemy’s encroachment the glorious name of the OUN Leader.” Other Ukrainian mass media keep silent. Meanwhile, Russian TV channels have given broad coverage of the decision ruled by the Donetsk District Administrative Court in their news programs. A week ago Vremia reported that “Ukraine has started a trial on abolishing the decree that conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine on Stepan Bandera, an Fascist ally.” All of this was topped by an exhibit of photos and documents entitled “Polish victims of the OUN-UPA,” which is being organized in the Ukrainian Home by MP Vadym Kolesnichenko, who is known for his “love” of Ukraine.
So, one thing is clear: the decision of the Donetsk Court will by no means help stop the confrontation between those who support the awarding of the title on Stepan Bandera and those who are against it. On the contrary, this affair raises questions, in particular those of legal character. Why precisely the Donetsk Court? Did it have the right to make such a decision?
“The decision on awarding the title of Hero [of Ukraine] to Bandera should have been considered by the Kyiv Administrative Court, not the Donetsk District Administrative Court, because the law says clearly that the cases where either the defendant or the plaintiff is the central body of executive power should be considered in the place of the defendant’s residence, i.e., in Kyiv,” says Oleh Bereziuk, president of the Ukrainian Legal Association. “Thus, this first illegal moment consists in the fact that the case was considered by an improper court. Secondly, moving along this analogy, 16 titles of Hero of Ukraine, at the very least, should be abolished, because in time of their living the awardees were not citizens of independent Ukraine. The Donetsk Court took a formal approach to the matter, and its interpretation was one-sided, based only on the fact that the title of Hero of Ukraine can be conferred only on Ukraine’s citizens. In fact, things are not so simple here, and perhaps this question will have to be raised even before the Constitutional Court, although I think the Court of Appeal will be enough to cancel this decision. And it will be cancelled. So, we can say that the Donetsk Court’s decision was political rather than legal.”
Has this decree improved our relations with the neighbors? No. As is known, the European Parliament, at the initiative of Poland, says that we are departing from the European values, but it is not so. Bandera fought for Ukraine’s independence. And, after all, does Europe have the right to intrude into Ukraine’s home affairs?
At the same time, this decree is advantageous for Russia. It has acquired an opportunity to create a negative image of Ukraine in Europe’s eyes, using its political, economic, and information levers in the EU countries. Russia is using this edict against us, and the decision of the Donetsk Court only adds points in this struggle for historical memory.
After all, all these questions should be resolved by the already newly-elected government headed by Viktor Yanukovych, who has already managed to say in Moscow about his intention to reconsider the decree on Bandera. And the decision ruled by the court in the president’s native city, Donetsk, is by no means helpful for Ukraine’s unity.
