Denisova on her dismissal: The trigger was my stance about the law on oligarchs
Former Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova attributes her dismissal to the fact that she had once spoken out against the adoption of the law on oligarchs. She said this in her interview with Babel.
She noted that her stance on the bill (she had emphasized the lack of consistency with the Constitution of Ukraine – Ed.) caused outrage, as it did not coincide with the position of high-ranking officials.
"And then the action began to remove me from office. I think this is due to the high-ranking officials, in particular those who lead the Servant of the People faction. Because it is a parliamentary body, and the decision is made by the Parliament," she said.
Denisova also complained about "tense cooperation" with the President's Office and the Servant of the People faction.
"As I made my annual reports, I tried to get through to the President. Although, according to the law, the Commissioner has the right to be urgently received to report on the human rights situation in Ukraine. The response from the PO was: 'Yes, we support what you do as the Commissioner, how you take care of human rights, we will inform you when a meeting will be possible.' According to the law, the Commissioner is a person equidistant from any state bodies. However, there must be cooperation. Therefore, we cooperated with government authorities. We communicated all our stances. So yes, my opinion on the law on oligarchs was the trigger [for my dismissal]," she said.
As IMI reported, on May 31, the Verkhovna Rada dismissed Lyudmila Denisova from the position of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights.
On May 31, over 30 human rights organizations called on the Verkhovna Rada to stop politicizing and trying to destroy the independence of the Ombudsman's institution and to create conditions for an independent competition for this position in compliance with all international standards.
On May 25, 2022, female Ukrainian media workers called on the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova to abstain from excessively detailed descriptions of sexual crimes during the war, as well as to verify and carefully consider every word to avoid sensationalism in the reports.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova stated that Lyudmila Denisova did not provide her with any information on rape cases which she reported on social media. Instead, the Commissioner was sending emails.
On September 23, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed in the second reading and in general the bill №5599 "On Prevention of Threats to National Security Related to Excessive Influence of Persons Who Have Significant Economic or Political Weight in Public Life (Oligarchs)."
On September 3, 2021, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner on Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova addressed the Chairman of the Parliament Dmytro Razumkov with an official letter, pointing at the inconsistency of the draft law №5599 “On Prevention of Threats to National Security Related to Excessive Influence of Persons Who Have Significant Economic or Political Weight in Public Life (Oligarchs)" with the Constitution of Ukraine.
Help us be even more cool!
