June 5, deputies of the Rada are waiting for the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov with a report. The initiative to call the minister “on the carpet” was earlier made by deputies from the parties “Servant of the People” and “Voice”.
The decision was made during the conciliation council of the Rada (formerly the Coordination Council of the majority. - RT .). This was announced by First Deputy Chairman of the Servant of the People faction Alexander Kornienko during a council meeting.
It is expected that Avakov will make a report during the government hour on the recent high-profile crimes that shocked Ukrainian society. Also, the minister should tell lawmakers about how the investigation is underway on the death of people's deputy Valery Davidenko, whose body with a gunshot wound was found in his office in May of this year.
“There are many questions and, I think, professionally, as always, our Minister of the Interior will give us an answer,” said Kornienko.
Also on June 5 in Kiev announced the holding of two protests, the participants of which intend to demand the resignation of Avakov from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs.
In the morning, activists supporting the resignation of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs intend to hold a rally near the Verkhovna Rada building under the slogan “Avakov off!” The event is timed to the time of the minister’s speech in parliament.
“Recent events show that unpunished evil not only grows, but also kills, becoming more and more dangerous. After all, the events in Kagarlyk and Brovary are just the tip of the iceberg. We will come to show that we are not indifferent, ”says the announcement of the event, posted on Facebook.
And in the afternoon, representatives of the KievPride LGBT organization, together with human rights organizations in Ukraine, intend to hold their rally against "police arbitrariness" at the Ukrainian government building.
- Arsen Avakov
- © Hennadii Minchenko / Keystone Press Agency
Werewolves in uniform
Recall that last week in the city of Kagarlyk in the Kiev region, police officers committed a cruel crime - law enforcement officers beat and raped a woman called to the department as a witness. Law enforcers brutally beat her companion and also threatened with rape. History caused a wide resonance and indignation of citizens. Then, commenting on the incident, the Interior Minister called the event in Kagarlyk one of the most "shameful."
“We did not hide anything. Two villains were immediately detained, and the investigative group of the State Security Bureau was called to the scene ... Unfortunately, cases of torture and inhuman treatment exist in the police of any country in the world. However, a sign of the health of the system is the response to such cases, the adoption of measures to punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, ”Avakov said.
- Police detained shooters in Brovary
- © @ UA.National.Police
Police officers who took part in the bullying were detained, criminal cases were instituted against them under part 1 of Art. 152 (rape), Art. 127 (torture) and part 2 of article 365 (abuse of power or official authority by an employee of a law enforcement agency, if accompanied by violence) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The entire police department, in which the detainees worked before the arrest, was disbanded.
In addition, Avakov promised that in the future a special monitoring system for officials will work in all police units.
“It will be called (system - RT .) Will be“ Custom Records ”. The mechanism is the online registration of detainees in all police units, starting from the moment of actual detention of the person, filing complaints and other mechanisms for monitoring the actions of officials on a 24/7 basis, ”Avakov said, explaining that the system is being tested now.
Also, a wide resonance caused a shootout that occurred on May 29 in the city of Brovary (Kiev region), in which about 100 people took part. According to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the responsibility for what happened lies with the authorities and law enforcement authorities of Kiev. The reason for the shooting was the conflict between passenger carriers over corruption schemes when receiving state tenders, the minister said.
A shootout in the morning in Brovary is an echo of corruption in determining carrier quotas and engaging gangs in the struggle for transportation routes.
We will treat !.
10 detainees already, mass detentions continue.
The executive bodies of Kiev and the region are obliged - you have .. rotted pic.twitter.com/iEiGLWEDLN
The torture at the Kagarlyk police station is not the first high-profile story of arbitrariness by law enforcement officers. So, a year ago in the Kiev region, drunken policemen killed a five-year-old child. According to law enforcement officers themselves, they accidentally hit him when they shot a gun in off-duty time. According to the relatives of the deceased boy, the police were drunk and shot at the banks when a random bullet hit him.
The four perpetrators of the tragedy were detained, but still have not been punished. And two of them in May 2020, according to media reports, left the pre-trial detention center altogether, making a deposit established by the court.
The story of the child killed by the police then also received wide publicity, and many, as now, demanded the resignation of Arsen Avakov from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, accusing him of failure of the reform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, these requirements have not been met.
With the fact that under Avakov the Ministry of Internal Affairs was not properly reformed, the RT source in the Golos party also agrees.
“The culprits of the resonance killings were not found, in the country a revelry of radicals. Updating the police, in which a lot of money was invested, failed. And this is already annoying the country's western partners. It turned out that the old policemen were hiding behind the new uniform and cars. Avakov had to be changed for a long time, ”the deputy said.
A similar point of view is held by the source of RT in the party “European Solidarity”. According to him, the population is dissatisfied with what is happening with the police under Avakov.
“Law enforcement officers do not ensure order, do not investigate crimes and take bribes. The radicals feel at ease here. But Avakov has a very strong position, and no matter how they are stronger than the president. Zelensky fears a crackdown on radicals and police inaction if Avakov is removed. In addition, for his resignation, it is still necessary to collect the required number of votes, ”he explained.
Invariably afloat
Before Avromaydan, Arsen Avakov was a people's deputy of the 7th convocation of the Rada from the Batkivshchyna party. He supported the protesters during the events of the winter of 2013-2014. After the coup, he received the post of head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Cabinet Arseniy Yatsenyuk. Although several government structures have changed in Ukraine since then, Avakov has been the head of the security department.
Even the resignation of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the coming to power of the team of Vladimir Zelensky could not shake the position of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“Avakov strengthened the power that came with the help of the coup,” Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, said in an interview with RT. “He also quite effectively strengthened and supported the so-called volunteer units that fought in the Donbass.”
- David Arahamia
- globallookpress.com
- © Hennadii Minchenko / ZUMAPRESS.com
At the same time, supporting an effective law and order in the country, by and large, was not part of Arsen Avakov’s tasks, the expert said.
“He has not yet been dismissed because he is comfortable with Washington. Avakov follows the pro-American course and remains afloat. As for Zelensky, he does not decide anything on this issue, ”Zharikhin believes.
As Ukrainian political scientist and economist Alexander Dudchak noted in a RT commentary, scandals with police crimes will not affect the strength of Arsen Avakov’s positions.
“In the hands of Avakov concentrated serious power throughout Ukraine. Of course, he is also not an independent figure, acts in a pro-American manner, but acts in his favor, ”the expert added.
However, this situation clearly does not suit Zelensky’s team. In March 2010, Yevgenia Kravchuk, deputy head of the faction of the ruling party “Servant of the People,” announced plans by the authorities to find a replacement for Avakov as head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, she explained that now Vladimir Zelensky does not have his own candidacy for this post, and a successor for Avakov should be sought among his own deputies.
“We decided this way: we will offer a deputy, and if this person grows up, and we understand that he can replace the minister, then there are no eternal people anywhere,” Kravchuk said.
Against the background of the recent scandal in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the discussion about Avakov’s possible resignation escalated - the parliamentary faction of the Servant of the People party even began collecting deputy signatures for dismissing the minister.
True, as explained by the head of the faction, David Arahamia, the collection of signatures alone cannot become the basis for dismissing Avakov from his post and replacing him with another candidate.
“Even if it is possible to collect signatures, at the moment there is no (mechanism. - RT ). This political process is simple. Even if you collect 150 or 250 signatures, there is nowhere to go with them. Here are these signatures, they can be shown on television. But there is no further order, ”Arahamia explained.
The politician recalled that now the Parliament is considering a bill on interpellation, which, if adopted, will allow deputies to dismiss ministers individually, and not the entire cabinet.
Resignation preparation
Recall that the draft law on interpellation was submitted to Parliament on May 18 of this year and is now being processed in the relevant committee. As stated in the explanatory note to the document, today the parliamentary control of the executive branch in Ukraine is primarily informative and advisory in nature. In the event that the bill is adopted, the Rada will receive new powers to control the executive branch.
However, experts doubt that the law will indeed be approved and enter into force.
- A rally demanding the resignation of Arsen Avakov
- Reuters
- © Valentyn Ogirenko
“Until there is a command from outside to remove Avakov from power, there will be talk about it, noisy speeches, but nothing more,” said Vladimir Zharikhin.
At the same time, Zelensky himself has long wanted to dismiss Arsen Avakov - RT was told about this by a source in the office of the Ukrainian president.
“He (Avakova . - RT ) didn’t have a relationship with the head of the President’s Office, Andrei Yermak. Avakov behaves as an independent player. He, for example, was the first to make a pandemic statement. But firing him is not so easy - he is too powerful. Firstly, he is supported by a part of the deputies of the Servants of the People party, which are oriented towards the oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Secondly, Avakov’s dismissal may lead to a clash with the radicals. So, I don’t think Zelensky will decide on such a step now, ”the source explained.
In turn, the interlocutor of RT in the party "Servant of the people" said that now there is an active preparation for the resignation of Avakov, and the minister’s call to the Rada is its element.
“This is a well-known tactic: a minister is called to the“ carpet ”and forced to make excuses, collect protests and even votes for resignation. I think that for now Avakov will be required to make concessions, to become more manageable. Let's see what this leads to. But definitely, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is now a more experienced politician compared to Zelensky, ”the deputy emphasized.
A similar point of view is shared by the director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, Mikhail Pogrebinsky. As the expert said in an interview with RT, most likely in the near future Avakov’s opponents in the government will not be able to get enough votes to first pass the law on interpellation, and then apply it to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
“The Minister of the Interior is in a complex system of relations with different branches of government, with street radicals, some of which he keeps under his control. If not for this, Zelensky would have long dismissed him. But those levers of political pressure, which Avakov owns, keep him in the ministerial chair. And the current campaign will also do without consequences for him, ”the expert concluded.