Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has made another baffling appointment with grave implications for Ukraine’s inter-state legal battles with Russia. On 29 June, she replaced Gyunduz Mamedov, who has played a vital role in Ukraine’s international legal suits against Russia with Maxim Yakubovsky, a person who has long been associated with controversial pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. Human rights defenders are outraged over a move they fear will destroy the Department for overseeing criminal proceedings into crimes committed in conditions of military conflict (otherwise known as the War Department). The move is all the more shocking as it is specifically thanks to Mamedov that real progress has been achieved over the last 18 months, and there can be no good reason for his being pushed aside.
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Halya Coynash: Baffling appointment sabotages Ukraine’s legal front against Russia
Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova reacts at a joint briefing with Head of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov on reports of suspicion to Ukrainian MPs on May 11, 2021.
