- Joined
- Apr 18, 2013
- Messages
- 111,656
- Reaction score
- 101,903
- Location
- Barsoom
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
Abdication of office is not a coup. In addition, Yanukovych would not have had any inclination to fulfill the points agreed to on 22 February 2014.....
1. Within 48 hours of the signing of this agreement, a special law will be adopted, signed and promulgated, which will restore the Constitution of 2004 including amendments passed until now. Signatories declare their intention to create a coalition and form a national unity government within 10 days thereafter.
2. Constitutional reform, balancing the powers of the President, the government and parliament, will start immediately and be completed in September 2014.
3. Presidential elections will be held as soon as the new Constitution is adopted but no later than December 2014. New electoral laws will be passed, and a new Central Election Commission will be formed on the basis of proportionality and in accordance with the OSCE & Venice commission rules. 4. Investigation into recent acts of violence will be conducted under joint monitoring from the authorities, the opposition and the Council of Europe.
5. The authorities will not impose a state of emergency. The authorities and the opposition will refrain from the use of violence. The Parliament will adopt the 3rd amnesty, covering the same range of illegal actions as the 17th February 2014 law.
In addition, once the above was satisified, Yanukovych would have been investigated for complicity in murder (the shooting deaths of 100+ protesters), the embezzlement of state funds, fraud, bribery, and property theft through conspiracy.
Two choices were available to Yanukovych: 1) remain and face investigation/prosecution or 2) abdicate and flee to Russia. Yanukovych chose the latter option.
On 24 January 2019 a panel of three judges of the Obolonskyi District Court found Yanukovych guilty of high treason and complicity in the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Yanukovych was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison. On 28 April 2025, Yanukovych was convicted in absentia by a Ukrainian court on charges of inciting the desertion of Ukrainian officials and organizing illegal border crossings to Russia during his escape in 2014. He was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment.