Ukraine has offered political asylum to Vlasta Parkanová, the former Czech defense minister charged with breach of trust and abuse of power in the purchase of CASA planes for the Czech army. Parkanová was defense minister from 2007-2009, when the contract to buy the allegedly overpriced planes was signed.
Parkanová was stripped of parliamentary immunity in July to enable prosecution to move forward. “I believe that if Parkanova asks Ukraine for political asylum, Ukraine will have every reason to assess the application and grant the asylum,” the deputy for the Ukrainian governing Party of Regions Volodymyr Olijnyk told the news agency ČTK. He insisted the charges against Parkanová were unfair because she “acted with the government’s agreement and in the state interest.”
However, he later admitted the proposal was a revenge for asylum Czech Republic granted to Ukrainian politicians Bohdan Danylyshyn (former economy minister) and Oleksandr Tymoshenko, husband of the imprisoned former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was also granted asylum in the Czech Republic last year.
