Ukraine first deputy prosecutor submits resignation

First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Volodymyr Huzyr submitted his resignation on July 28, he told a press conference during which he was accompanied by Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, who announced his replacement. At the same conference, Shokin said he will ask parliament to remove political immunity from numerous MPs that belonged to the defunct Party of Regions so that they could be arrested. He said the request will be made in time for the start of the fall session but he declined to reveal names.

Zenon Zawada: An intense campaign to remove Shokin has been launched in parliament by some genuine reformers, as well as some not-so-genuine populists. Huzyr’s resignation is a bone thrown by Shokin to the political dogs who are after him. So is the claim that he plans to target Party of Regions MPs. Shokin said he would arrest them, but didn’t mention prosecuting them. Additionally, we saw with MP Serhiy Kliuyev what happens when political immunity is removed withoutthe mechanisms in place for an immediate arrest.

It’s apparent that Poroshenko and his advisers had a talk with Shokin and suggested some maneuvers to keep the wolves at bay. It’s also apparent that Poroshenko has an interest in keeping Shokin as prosecutor general, despite it being rather obvious now that he’s a defender of the old guard and a standard post-Soviet prosecutor who’s not interested in reform.

Having first appointed Vitaliy Yarema and now Shokin, both not interested in reform, Poroshenko is showing that he is deeply interested in protecting a large circle of individuals from prosecution. He’s also showing a tactic of keeping his unpopular prosecutor generals in place for as long as the public is willing to tolerate them. Then he replaces them with the next post-Soviet holdover. It looks doubtful the president can keep this carousel going beyond this year, without public protest swelling even further.