Ukraine interior minister blames Lyovochkin for EuroMaidan dispersal

Serhiy Lyovochkin, the head of the Presidential Administration under former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, was responsible for the violent dispersal of the EuroMaidan protests, said on Nov. 23 Arsen Avakov, the interior minister. He called for depriving Lyovochkin of his political immunity as a member of parliament and imprisoning him. Previously, Lyovochkin placed responsibility for the protest’s dispersal on Yanukovych and the Kyiv police chief.

Zenon Zawada: With his statement, Avakov made a mockery of Ukraine’s law enforcement system. It’s a ridiculous scene in which the head of police accuses key politician of a serious crime, unaccompanied by criminal charges and a serious attempt to remove immunity. This merely adds insult to injury that no official has been convicted in relation to the EuroMaidan violence. Such a statement won’t impress Western lending and political institutions either.