Eduard Yakubovsky, a Russian citizen who favors the death penalty, is trying to become the new face of justice in rebel-held east Ukraine.
Appointed president of the “supreme court” in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in late September, the burly former investigator from Moscow says he is busy vetting judges as he attempts to set up a legal system in the state that Kiev and the West consider illegal.
Dressed in military fatigues, Yakubovsky, 55, is a far cry from the typical image of a staid magistrate in a gown and suit.
Photo: AFP
“Believe me, at a time like this, these are the most suitable clothes for the job,” Yakubovsky said in an interview at Donetsk city court.
“We haven’t yet come up with a dress code for the judges that we’ll swear in,” he said.
The justice system collapsed in Ukraine’s eastern rebel zones after the pro-Russian uprising began in April, with the rule of the gun quickly replacing the rule of law. Arbitrary and brutal punishments have been meted out by armed commanders with no oversight or accountability.
The UN in July accused rebels of conducting a “reign of fear and terror” that has seen people abducted, tortured and even executed. Since then, online videos and rumors have swirled of popular tribunals handing down death sentences at mob hearings.
Now, as the Kremlin-backed separatists tighten their grip over their territory, they are looking to give themselves the trappings of a legitimate state and greater control over the population.
Yakubovsky, who has a Russian passport, but says he has lived in Ukraine for 30 years, claims he is currently sifting through the resumes of judges and lawyers who once worked in the Ukrainian system and want to sign up to administer law under a new regime.
“At the moment, we’re going through all their documents before appointing any judges,” he said.
“We have to check the background of each candidate,” he added.
It is not just about hiring judges — the criminal code is also a work-in-progress.
Despite being in a fight to the death with Kiev, Yakubovsky says the rebels have accepted Ukrainian law as the basis for their system “when it doesn’t contradict with the our texts.”
They have already introduced new laws — most notably the re-introduction of the death penalty, which was officially banned in Ukraine in 2000.
“We have the death penalty and it will be applied,” Yakubovsky says. “For crimes against life, like aggravated murder, some military crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Until the new legal system gets up and running, it is down to local commanders to dole out whatever justice they see fit.
“If it is a combatant from our side who has committed an offense, then the head of military police decides on the punishment,” a rebel tasked with security on Donetsk’s streets told reporters.
“If it is a civilian, then it is the commander of the group that arrests them that takes the decision,” he said, refusing to give his name.
Particularly in their sights are drug dealers and users who they say are still operating in the region.
A man was recently arrested for taking methamphetamine and jailed for 15 days and forced to clean out all the prison cells, the rebel said.
Another individual, accused of manufacturing and selling “large amounts” of narcotics, has been in jail for three-and-a-half months awaiting trial.
Yakubovsky said that innocent people might have got caught up in the rebel dragnet. The problem is, he does not know exactly how many there are and when they will ever come to trial.
“It’s true that there could be some innocent people among them,” he said. “We’ll see when they go to trial. If that is the case, they’ll be set free.”
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
‘HYANGDO’: A South Korean lawmaker said there was no credible evidence to support rumors that Kim Jong-un has a son with a disability or who is studying abroad South Korea’s spy agency yesterday said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s daughter, Kim Ju-ae, who last week accompanied him on a high-profile visit to Beijing, is understood to be his recognized successor. The teenager drew global attention when she made her first official overseas trip with her father, as he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Analysts have long seen her as Kim’s likely successor, although some have suggested she has an older brother who is being secretly groomed as the next leader. The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) “assesses that she [Kim Ju-ae]
In the week before his fatal shooting, right-wing US political activist Charlie Kirk cheered the boom of conservative young men in South Korea and warned about a “globalist menace” in Tokyo on his first speaking tour of Asia. Kirk, 31, who helped amplify US President Donald Trump’s agenda to young voters with often inflammatory rhetoric focused on issues such as gender and immigration, was shot in the neck on Wednesday at a speaking event at a Utah university. In Seoul on Friday last week, he spoke about how he “brought Trump to victory,” while addressing Build Up Korea 2025, a conservative conference
China has approved the creation of a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, the government said yesterday, as Beijing moves to reinforce its territorial claims in the contested region. A notice posted online by the Chinese State Council said that details about the area and size of the project would be released separately by the Chinese National Forestry and Grassland Administration. “The building of the Huangyan Island National Nature Reserve is an important guarantee for maintaining the diversity, stability and sustainability of the natural ecosystem of Huangyan Island,” the notice said. Scarborough
RSS