Viktor Pshonka

Early life and education

Viktor Pshonka was born on February 6, 1954, in Serhiyivka, Slovyansk District of Donetsk Oblast. After graduating from high school he was called up for military service in the Soviet Army. Having discharged from army, he got a job at one of the enterprises in Donetsk Oblast.

In 1975, Viktor Pshonka enrolled at the Kharkiv Law Institute.

Career

In 1980, he began work at Kramatorsk Prosecutor's Office in Donetsk Oblast, where he served as investigator, and eventually as an assistant to prosecutor of the city of Kramatorsk.

From 1986 till 1997, Viktor Pshonka served as prosecutor of Kramatorsk City.

In 1997, he was appointed first deputy prosecutor of Donetsk Oblast.

In 1998-2003, he was prosecutor of Donetsk Oblast, one of the biggest regions in Ukraine.

TV journalist Igor Aleksandrov was murdered in 2001 while producing a program exposing links between politicians, law enforcement, and organized crime in Kramatorsk; Pshonka was one of two men Aleksandrov had identified as godfathering the Kramatorsk underworld. Pshonka then oversaw the investigation of the murder. A homeless man was larger charged but acquitted in the case, dying of 'mysterious circumstances' soon after; the same fate that befell the two witnesses and investigating police officer.

In November 2003, Viktor P. Pshonka was appointed Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine. He was in charge of prosecutor's supervision over observance of laws by the agencies of the Ministry of Interior, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), tax police and special units combating organized crime and corruption. He was also responsible for supervision over state customs service and border guard.

He resigned voluntarily from his office in December 2004, but returned to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine at the end of 2006.

In November 2010, members of Ukraine's Parliament voted in favor (292 votes) of Viktor Pshonka's appointment as the General Prosecutor of Ukraine.

General Prosecutor of Ukraine

Since his appointment to office, Viktor Pshonka has laid emphasis in his activity on bringing Ukrainian prosecution service in line with European standards. Speaking on the Ukrainian TV channel Inter four days after his appointment, Pshonka called himself "a member of President Viktor Yanukovych's team".

In this regard, V. Pshonka takes active part in consultations and discussions on the issues of improving of the work of prosecution service with experts and representatives of European and international organizations, in particular, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission, etc., as well as exchange of experience with law enforcement authorities of other states.

In accordance with the new Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine CPC, which entered into force in 2012, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine led by Pshonka introduced the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations (computerized system, where all complaints and applications regarding criminal offences in Ukraine are registered), which is used by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.

In November 2012, the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for employees of the prosecution service was adopted by all-Ukrainian Conference of Members of prosecuting agencies.

Another innovation during Pshonka's tenure was establishment of the Dnipro Ecological Prosecutor's Office, the main task of which is to oversee compliance with environmental laws in respect of drainage basin of the Dnieper River within the territory of Ukraine.

Criminal prosecution

On 22 February 2014, as a part of the Euromaidan Revolution, the Verkhovna Rada ousted Pshonka in a no-confidence vote. On 23 February 2014 an arrest warrant was issued to arrest Pshonka.

But Interpol has denied a request to put former Prosecutor General of Ukraine Viktor Pshonka on the wanted list allegedly due to the weakness of the evidence submitted by the competent authorities of Ukraine

Early March 2014 the EU froze Pshonka's accounts.

Membership

Family and personal life

Pshonka's son Artyom Pshonka was a constituency candidate in Zaporizhia for Party of Regions during the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. He was elected into parliament.

After his removal as General Prosecutor of Ukraine media reported that photos of Pshonka's mansion were "astonishing by their luxury".

When Pshonka and his son Artyom appealed the EU accounts freeze late May 2014 it became clear they both had the Russian nationality, although it was unclear since when. The last time Pshonka appeared in public was during a joint press conference with former President Viktor Yanukovych and former Ukrainian Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko on 13 April 2014 in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

Awards

In view of special accomplishments in strengthening of the due course of law in Ukraine, V. Pshonka was awarded a rank of State Counselor of Justice of Ukraine, Honored Jurist of Ukraine and Third Class Order of Merit by the Decrees of the President of Ukraine.

In 2000, he was named Jurist of the Year in the nomination among prosecutors.

In 2002, he was awarded the Certificate of Honor of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Viktor Pshonka was awarded lapel badges of the "Honorable Member of Prosecution Service of Ukraine”, “Statehood. Fairness. Honesty” of 2nd Degree.

He also received “Acknowledgement of Honest Service in Prosecution Service of Ukraine” of 1st Degree, as well as awards from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.