Reformer of the week – Zoya Melnyk
An Odesa court held a hearing on Oct. 17 on an alleged traffic violation by Zoya Melnyk, a whistleblower who had been fired from Odesa’s patrol police.
The court has yet to make a final decision. Melnyk denies the accusations of exceeding speed limits and sees the case as part of reprisals against her. She has also disputed her dismissal and is seeking to be reinstated.
In July Melnyk published a Facebook post, accusing the leadership of patrol police in Odesa Oblast of numerous wrongdoings.
Melnyk said that the patrol police is taking bribes in the same way as the old Soviet-style DAI traffic police. She blamed what she sees as the failure of the reform on Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.
She said that the patrol police had revived old Soviet-style plans to register a certain number of violations to improve statistics regardless of what number of violations is actually committed. Yuriy Rybak, head of Odesa’s patrol police, was suspended in July during a probe.
In September Melnyk was fired from the patrol police in what she believes to be a reprisal for her whistleblowing campaign. She said she had received threats due to her whistleblowing activities. The police denied Melnyk’s accusations, accusing her in turn of negligence, ineffectiveness and violating discipline.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Verkhovna Rada on Aug. 29 backed keeping Avakov as interior minister despite extensive evidence of alleged corruption and sabotage of reforms and investigations.
Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky closed the corruption case against Avakov’s son Oleksandr last year as part of what anti-corruption groups see as a political bargain with the powerful minister.
Anti-reformer of the week – High Qualification Commission
From Oct. 21 to Oct. 23, the High Qualification Commission of Judges is planning to vet 75 judges who had been recognized by the Public Integrity Council, the judiciary’s civil society watchdog, as not meeting integrity and ethical standards.
Members of the Public Integrity Council, including Halia Chyzhyk and Roman Maselko, argue that this is the commission’s last-ditch attempt to help tainted judges before it is set to be replaced with a new commission under the judicial reform bill passed on Oct. 16. The commission did not respond to a request for comment.
Initially the meetings were planned for Oct. 17 to Oct. 22 but they were postponed after a protest against tainted judges was announced by the Public Integrity Council for Oct. 17. The protest was also delayed until Oct. 21.
The commission will consider vetting Taras Zayeys, Petro Zaruba and Andriy Klyuchyk, all accused of issuing unlawful rulings against protesters during the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution.
The commission will also assess Oleh Glukhanchuk, Oleksandr Vilchynsky, and Kostyantyn Kobylyansky, who are accused of violating asset declaration rules.
Under the judicial reform bill, a selection committee comprised of three members of the Council of Judges and three members of the Public Council of International Experts, a foreign advisory body, will choose new members of the High Qualification Commission of Judges.
Anti-corruption watchdogs have called on the Rada to amend the bill and give foreign experts control of the selection process for the new High Qualification Commission. They said that four of the six members of the commission should be foreign experts, but the statement was ignored by the Rada.
Members of the Public Integrity Council warn that to be successful, the new commission must include people of integrity trusted by civil society, not shady proteges of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Bohdan and other government figures.
