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Ukraine's former ruling party hit by spate of apparent suicides
Source: The Guardian
Ukraine's former ruling party hit by spate of apparent suicides
Katya Gorchinskaya in Kiev
Monday 23 March 2015 17.06 GMT
Before jumping, Mykhailo Chechetov wrote a note. He said he had “no moral strength” to live, and thanked people for their support. Then he stepped out of the window of his 17th-floor apartment, leaving his slippers behind for his wife to find later.
Chechetov was once a senior member of Ukraine’s Party of Regions, which had a strong grip on power until the revolution a year ago. His death on 28 February was the second in a string of apparent suicides by top members of the party which until last year had dominated Ukrainian politics. Four such officials died within several weeks. All of them were under criminal investigation by the incumbent authorities.
The leader of the Party of Regions, the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, fled the nation at the height of the Maidan revolution, leaving his allies stunned and struggling to accept a new reality. The party started disintegrating rapidly. Many of its members ended up facing trials for corruption, extortion, abuse of office and even murder.
The rampant corruption and venality of the ruling elite under Yanukovych spurred the revolution in February last year, and those in the new government say the old guard are simply receiving just desserts for previous misdeeds. However, some in the former elite claim the process is a politically-motivated witch-hunt. Either way, the spate of apparent suicides shows the psychological toll the process is having on those who ruled Ukraine before the revolution.
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Katya Gorchinskaya in Kiev
Monday 23 March 2015 17.06 GMT
Before jumping, Mykhailo Chechetov wrote a note. He said he had “no moral strength” to live, and thanked people for their support. Then he stepped out of the window of his 17th-floor apartment, leaving his slippers behind for his wife to find later.
Chechetov was once a senior member of Ukraine’s Party of Regions, which had a strong grip on power until the revolution a year ago. His death on 28 February was the second in a string of apparent suicides by top members of the party which until last year had dominated Ukrainian politics. Four such officials died within several weeks. All of them were under criminal investigation by the incumbent authorities.
The leader of the Party of Regions, the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, fled the nation at the height of the Maidan revolution, leaving his allies stunned and struggling to accept a new reality. The party started disintegrating rapidly. Many of its members ended up facing trials for corruption, extortion, abuse of office and even murder.
The rampant corruption and venality of the ruling elite under Yanukovych spurred the revolution in February last year, and those in the new government say the old guard are simply receiving just desserts for previous misdeeds. However, some in the former elite claim the process is a politically-motivated witch-hunt. Either way, the spate of apparent suicides shows the psychological toll the process is having on those who ruled Ukraine before the revolution.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/23/ukraine-party-of-regions-members-apparent-suicides-viktor-yanukovych
