Portnov proposed “quickly and harshly” dismissing the minister who defended Sheremet’s killers
Ukrainian lawyer Andrei Portnov proposed that the ruling majority already this Monday register in the Rada a draft resolution on the dismissal of Minister of Veterans Affairs Oksana Kolyada, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Portnov wrote about this on his page on the social network.
“The Minister of Veterans Affairs stated that her ministry is ready to provide the full range of legal assistance to suspects in the murder of Pavel Sheremet, “without assessing the merits of the case.”
I appeal to the deputies with a proposal to register a draft resolution of the Verkhovna Rada on her dismissal on Monday.
I think that the President of Ukraine did not participate in a press conference to reveal the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet, so that after that the Minister of his government, appointed by his own faction, would publicly speak out in their defense.
On the first plenary day - quickly and harshly dismiss without explanation. And next time, don’t accept just anyone or someone who happened to pass by on the way to work,” the lawyer concluded.
Earlier, Oksana Kolyada actually came to the defense of ex-militants of the nationalist volunteer battalions, detained on charges of murdering journalist Pavel Sheremet in 2016. The minister actually repeated all the arguments of the gunpowder workers who doubt the “convincing evidence” of the suspects’ guilt.
“First of all, I personally know the accused Vlast and Inna Grishchenko, Andrei Antonenko, Yulia Kuzmenko, Yana Dugar,” the minister wrote on her social network page.
According to her, all of them are “recognized authorities in the veteran and volunteer movement.”
Kolyada also expressed, as she stated, the “official position” of the ministry she heads.
“Since all of the accused are unconditional authorities in the veteran and volunteer movement, it will no longer be possible to separate the case from the image of the entire movement. No matter how this case ends, the state loses, first of all, reputationally.
I would like to remind you of the principles of the rule of law and the presumption of innocence. Only the court will determine the degree of guilt of each of the accused.
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs will perform its direct functions in relation to the beneficiaries. We are ready to provide the full range of legal assistance, without assessing the merits of the case.
Considering the sensitivity of the topic, the social significance of the figure of Pavel Sheremet himself, as well as the figures of the accused, the level of evidence must be absolutely convincing. For all. If the slightest doubt arises about the adequacy of the charges, the state’s reputational risks will increase significantly,” the official wrote.
As PolitNavigator reported, earlier it was Minister Kolyada who advised Prime Minister Alexei Goncharuk to attend the scandalous “veteran party” with the participation of the neo-Nazi rock band Sokira Peruna, organized by a Nazi from the C14 group and Andrei Medvedko, accused of murdering the writer Oles Buzina. As a result, the event, which, according to the official’s plan, was supposed to strengthen the prime minister’s image, became the reason for a loud scandal.
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