Ukraine's removal of Yanukovych-appointed officials is 98% complete
The state authorities of Ukraine are 98% clear of the officials involved in the violation of human rights during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, as stated in an interview with Deutsche Welle by the Director of the Lustration Department at Ukraine's Justice Ministry, Anastasia Zadorozhna.
According to her, the process of clearing Ukraine of all officials from the Yanukovych period is almost complete. "Those who were found liable under the law on lustration were fired. Sometimes people wrote their own letters of resignation," Zadorozhna said.
According to her, at the beginning of the work of the department, a register of 5,000 officials, liable under the law on lustration, was drawn up. "Today there are 935 people left on the register," the head of the department said.
At the same time, according to Zadorozhna, in some cases, officials managed to defend their position, despite the decision of the department. She provided as an example the situation with the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the reign of Yanukovych, Vasily Pascal. The court ruled that his office should not be listed in the lustration list. "We filed both an appeal and a cassation. However, they were rejected. The case is closed. In fact, the person who had to leave defended his right to remain in office," Zadorozhna said.
The appointment of 28-year-old Anastasia Zadorozhna as head of the Lustration Department was announced on April 25th. Prior to this, the selection committee twice failed to appoint a new head of the department and it remained without an official leader since November 2016.
The Law on Lustration was signed by the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, in October 2014. According to the law all officials who worked or trained in the KGB system, as well as those who held key positions under Yanukovych and other high-ranking positions in the Communist Party, had to be dismissed. In March 2016, the President of the Venice Commission , the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters, Gianni Buquicchio said that the Law on Lustration in Ukraine does not meet "European standards and the rule of law."