DEBUT OF NEW UKRANIAN PROSECUTOR CONTROVERSIAL.

The Ukrainian legislature voted Thursday to approve Hryhor Vorsinov as prosecutor-general of Ukraine. Vorsinov replaces Yevhen Datsiuk, who resigned after criticism of his standards of investigation into alleged corruption among officials. One such official, former acting prime minister Yefrim Zvyahilsky, has been in exile in Israel since being stripped of immunity from prosecution.

Vorsinov’s debut was not without controversy. During his October 17 presentation to the Supreme Council, he pronounced himself in favor of capital punishment in view of the social situation in the country. (14) That flew in the face of what Serhii Holovaty, the new Minister of Justice, had told a visiting Council of Europe delegation the day before. At that meeting, Holovaty said the death penalty would be abolished in three years time and, in effect, was no longer being carried out in Ukraine. (15) Abolition of the death penalty is a requirement for membership in the Council of Europe.

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