Presidential election Ukraine
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Kateryna Butko speaks the power of the pictures as she stands in front of the presidential office in Kiev in early February, holding a photograph of a young woman in one hand; In the other hand, photographs of burned body parts, raw meat on the back, leg and head.
The pictures show Kateryna Handsjuk - before and after the anti-corruption activist from the southern Kherson was doused with acid last year. Three months after the attack she dies.
Genya Savilov / AFP
Kateryna Butko
Kateryna Butko calls her action "shock therapy" . Otherwise it would not be possible to draw attention to the sluggish investigations, says the 30-year-old.
Because it is not progressing. A regional politician from Yulia Tymoshenko's fatherland party was arrested as one of six suspects, but then released on bail and with an ankle bracelet. There are many inconsistencies in the case of illegal deforestation. With the wood local elites made good money, which sharply criticized Handsjuk.
UKRAINE BEFORE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Five years ago, hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Ukraine first for a Western European course of their country, then against the corrupt government. The Maidan brought the country more freedom, but took peace. Ukraine is in constant conflict with its neighbor Russia, which annexed the Crimea and is leading in the Donbass war. At the end of March Ukrainians elect a new president - encounters in a torn country.
Her death has become a symbol for Kateryna Butko and many other activists for the fight they carry out every day.
It is rebelling against the old corrupt system of politicians, entrepreneurs, officials and criminals who still have influence, especially in the regions. Even today, five years after hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Ukraine to demand the overthrow of their corrupt government. The then president Viktor Yanukovych has long been living in Russia, the Ukraine is a democracy, but the old cliques work well in the post-Maidan period.
Maxim Sergienko / SPIEGEL ONLINE
Kateryna in her office
Activist Kateryna Butko experiences this every day. She analyzes the work of judges in the country. As before, the judiciary acts like a state in the state, says the young woman.
Five years ago she herself was on the Maidan in the center of Kiev, at that time she was still working in the PR sector. She watched demonstrators being beaten up by police special forces and later sentenced. Some were in prison, some in detention for several weeks. Some today are activists like Kateryna, others just live their life off the beaten path.
Kateryna was on one of these trials herself, trying to testify as a witness, explaining that the students had done nothing but demonstrate for change in their country. She was "naive" at that time, she says today, the sentences are illegal.
More than half of the judges who announced such decisions are still in office. Maidan judge Kateryna calls her.
Nodari Tsirikashvili
Kateryna during the drive to the Yanukovych residence in January 2014
Kiev, a sunny afternoon in February. Not far from the Botanical Garden Kateryna brings a drone out of the car with two comrades. It is an area of fences, they shield the spacious houses from prying eyes.
Kateryna, like her colleagues Serhiy Khadzhynov and Oleh Puschak, is a member of the Auto-Maidan movement. They organized mobile protests, drove to the homes of prosecutors and politicians. At one point hundreds of cars rolled in front of the Yanukovych residence in the north of Kiev.
The Auto-Maidan is still active today. "We only stop our work when our judicial bodies work independently, as the law requires," says Kateryna.
It points to a large house a few hundred meters down the street. It is the address of Bohdan Sanin, the judge who on 30 November 2013 banned the protests on the Maidan and in the adjacent streets. The police then cleared the center by force.
Maxim Sergienko / SPIEGEL ONLINE
Kateryna with Oleh Puschak
The drone takes off, flies buzzing in a curve towards the building. On the small screen of the control console appears the snow-covered roof of an ocher-colored house with pointed gables. The domicile is large 517 square meters, which follows from the statement of the judge. Up until now, Ukrainian officials have had to disclose their income on an annual basis - not only to themselves, but also to close family members. The information is available on the Internet.
Kateryna bundles the data of the judges. She oversees the project "Prosud" ("For the Judiciary"), which has set itself the task of fighting the corruption of judges.
Maxim Sergienko / SPIEGEL ONLINE
Oleg and Kateryna
"We show people how their judges live," says Kateryna. The activists drive to the addresses, filming the property with drones, which is legally possible in Ukraine. Put the pictures in the net. There are hundreds of shots.
They have experienced a lot in their work in the past two years: sometimes they found a much larger property; a restaurant, prosecutors and judges are not allowed to do business; The officials later said they allegedly found bags full of money from deceased relatives in wardrobes.
prosud.info
Overview of the income of the judge Bohdan Sanin, based on the data of his income statements, calculated by "Prosud" in hryvnia
In the area where Sanin's house is located, real estate costs, according to estimates, from ten million hryvnia upwards, that is more than 300,000 euros. The judge earned his declarations that in his best year of 2013, just over 17,000 euros. This is not bad for Ukraine, but hardly enough to buy such a house. Officially, the building, according to his last statement, belongs to his wife. The judge himself can not find anything bad about this, he has stated his possessions and that of his relatives, as he writes on Facebook.
But interesting is, in which family the judge has married. It was his father-in-law, Volodymyr Jazuba, who, as the head of the Sevastopol city government in December 2013 - after the pronouncement of Sanin's Maidan verdict - called on men in the Crimea to go to Kiev with him and arrange things there. "They want to make a decision there without us, but it does not work that way," Jazuba said. His speech is still on YouTube.
Anti-corruption activist Kateryna Butko
Kateryna Butko is in charge of the project "Prosud" (For the Judiciary), which has set itself the task of fighting against the corruption of judges - here their mobile with the logo of the initiative. The work is funded, among other things, with funds from US foundations.
The 30-year-old in her office in Kiev.
Poster in the office of Katerynas NGO: Corruption is still five years after the Maidan and the change of power everyday in Ukraine.
Kateryna analyzes the situation in the judiciary. Reforms were passed and judges dismissed. Before the Maidan, about 9,000 judges worked in Ukraine, now there are about 5,800. However, NGOs complain that the majority of judges are not independent; the old corrupt system, consisting of politicians, entrepreneurs, civil servants and criminals, still functions still have influence.
To date, none of the Ukrainian top officials has been convicted of corruption, despite the fact that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau has been quite successful, says Kateryna. Representatives of other NGOs agree with this finding.
Kateryna with her colleague Oleh Puschak: He prepares the drone with which they want to photograph the house of a judge.
On the drone sticks a car Maidan sticker. Instead of demonstrating in the center of Kiev in 2014, Kateryna and other activists drove to the homes of prosecutors and politicians to protest.
"We show people how their judges live," says the activist. Meanwhile, the NGO has a database of hundreds of photographs of the real estate of judges.
Each judge must disclose his income to himself and related family members annually. The information is available on the Internet. Kateryna and her colleagues check them and drive to the given properties and take pictures.
The drone takes off, Oleh steers her towards the judge's house.
The snow-covered roof of an ocher-colored house with pointed gables appears on the screen of his control console. 517 square meters it is big. That follows from the explanation of the judge.
Kateryna and her colleagues have collected this information. Although Judge Sanin was dismissed in 2018, the decision is not final, he has filed an opposition. What particularly exasperates activists is Sanin's new post. He works as a spokesman for a district administrative court in Kiev, so he is the face of the court in public, to make his work transparent. The reputation of the courts is still bad, they are considered politically controlled: Only one in ten Ukrainians familiar judges, according to a survey of the Kiev International Institute of Sociology.
Maxim Sergienko / SPIEGEL ONLINE
Kateryna with SPIEGEL ONLINE correspondent Christina Hebel
"The political will to really fight corruption is missing," says Kateryna. The fact that President Petro Poroshenko calls the judiciary reform a success can only shake her head. "Poroshenko has promised to dismiss all Maidan judges," she says.
Kateryna speaks calmly - unlike her colleague Serhij, who talks on the way back to the office of the NGO in Rage. He calls Poroshenko a thief who protects his environment, "he only simulates reforms to the West." To date, no Ukrainian top official has been convicted of corruption, although the National Anti-Corruption Bureau has been quite successful in detecting it, Kateryna says. Representatives of other NGOs agree with this finding.
MIRROR ONLINE
She hopes for the presidential and parliamentary elections. Will Volodymyr Selensky not help them in their fight? Kateryna laughs briefly as she hears the name of the presidential candidate leading the polls. "That's too much show for me". She alludes to the television series of the comedian. In the broadcast he plays the "hard-working, honest, fair" president of Ukraine.
No matter how the election ends, Kateryna knows her fight will take a long time. She sees successes in the newly established traffic police. She hopes that the anticorruption court, whose judges are selected with Western participation, will soon be operational.
From the Maidan to the Crimea annexation
February 20, 2014, Kiev
Snipers open fire on pro-European demonstrators in the center of Kiev, killing 47 people. Anyone who has fired the deadly shots is not clear until today. A total of nearly 80 people will be killed in the Ukrainian capital from 18 to 21 February.
February 21, 2014, Kiev
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland negotiate a treaty to settle the conflict. Pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych rushes to Kharkov in the night and heads to Donetsk and from there to the Crimean peninsula. Due to the flight, the parliament declares on February 22, 2014 Yanukovych for depreciated.
February 23, 2014, Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin, following the loss of Yanukovych's power, is giving instructions to the heads of security services to prepare for "bringing Crimea back to Russia" in order to give residents the opportunity to decide their own fate. " Putin tells this a year later in a television documentary on Russian state television.
February 26, 2014, Simferopol / Crimea
There are violent clashes between Proukrainian Crimean Tatars and pro-Russian demonstrators in front of the parliament building in Simferopol. Thousands gather because there are rumors that MEPs could speak at the special session on the independence of Crimea from Ukraine.
February 27, 2014, Crimea
For the first time, reports will be made directly on the deployment of Russian soldiers in the Crimea. The Simferopol parliament is staffed by gunmen wearing green uniforms and without insignia. The group of "green males", who call themselves the "self-defender" of the Russian-speaking population, raise a Russian flag on the roof of Parliament.
February 28, 2014, Crimea
Armed forces in uniforms without national identifications take control of two airports on the Black Sea peninsula. According to Ukrainian sources, 2,000 Russian soldiers land at an air base in Crimea. In the coming days, there will be a change of power in the Crimea in the presence of the armed forces: the new government there, like Russia, does not recognize the Transitional Government of Ukraine.
March 16, 2014, Crimea
In a referendum illegal under Ukrainian law, the status of Crimea is decided. According to the Ukrainian Constitution, any question concerning a change in the borders of Ukraine can only be answered in a nationwide referendum. According to officially published results, 96.77 percent of participants are in favor of Crimea accession to the Russian Federation. The turnout is 83.1 percent, they say. Human rights defenders and journalists report irregularities in voting backed by gunmen. The EU and the US talk about electoral manipulation and announce new sanctions against Russia a day later.
March 18, 2014, Moscow
Putin signed with the Prime Minister of the Crimea, Sergei Axyonov, in the Kremlin the Treaty on the accession of the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as the 84th and 85th Federation subject in the Russian state association. A little later, the Treaty is ratified by the Russian Parliament. Ukraine, the EU and the US do not accept accession, they continue to regard Crimea as Ukrainian territory.
Of course, pressure is also exerted on their NGO. But it is not as bad as in the regions in Kiev. Asked about raids on activists, such as the acid attack on Kateryna Handsjuk in South Ukraine, Kateryna says, "Afraid, that's secondary."
Giving up is out of the question for them, after all, it is about the legacy of the Maidan. She owes that to the dozens of people who died five years ago. "I only give my time and work, they have given their lives."