Ukrainian MP Halushko from Servant of the People called police officers who stopped his car names

Avakov said this was not the only incident involving him.

Servant of the People MP Mykola Halushko insulted police officers who stopped a driver and cars used by this MP for a traffic violation. 

According to UP sources, the incident took place on December 18, 2020. Police stopped the car in central Kyiv for a traffic violation (crossing a double solid line) at around four in the morning. 

Halushko came to "rescue" his driver and, for a long time and using obscene language, explained to law enforcement officers that this was a car belonging to a People's Deputy and that they supposedly had no right to stop it. 

The police said that the car did not indicate it belonged to an MP, and that MPs do not have diplomatic immunity. In the video, Halushko accuses the officers of provocation, complains that he was "pulled away from the table," and calls the police "idiots." 

During the conversation it becomes clear that the aforementioned car, a Toyota Land Cruiser, is owned by the MP's mother.

It is worth noting that 42-year-old Halushko is a member of the Committee on Law Enforcement and a graduate of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. Dialogue between the MP and a police officer:

H: Wait! Stop! Who inspected the car? 

P: Is this a diplomatic car? 

H: This car belongs to me. 

P: Wonderful. 

H: It is declared in my declaration. 

P: Great. 

H: As a People's Deputy. How can you f**king inspect it? What are you doing? 

P: How is it different from other cars? 

H: Are you sick in the head or what?! 

P: I ask you to communicate normally. 

H: Did you hear me?! This is the car of a People's Deputy of Ukraine! 

P: Does it have immunity? 

H: How can you inspect it? 

P: Nobody inspected you.

H: How can you inspect the car of a People's Deputy?! 

P: Your immunity as a People's Deputy was not harmed. 

Reaction from Servant of the People

The Servant of the People faction condemned the actions of MP Halushko, who behaved improperly toward law enforcement officers, and apologized to the police. 

Yuliia Paliichuk
spokesperson of the Servant of the People faction

The faction of the political party Servant of the People condemns the actions of People's Deputy Mykola Halushko and considers his behavior toward police officers unacceptable for any citizen. Even more so for a member of parliament. Our faction apologizes to police officers and to everyone who may have been offended by this situation. 

According to her, MP Halushko confirmed the authenticity of the video obtained by UP, but claims that it "was the subject of blackmail by the then head of the Interior Ministry, who threatened to make it public if the deputy refused to support his initiatives in parliament." 

The deputy said that the appearance of this video in the public domain is allegedly linked to his position during the vote on the dismissal of the interior minister, which took place on July 15. 

Halushko's comment

People's Deputy Mykola Halushko himself insists that police stopped his car illegally. 

Mykola Halushko
MP from Servant of the People

There was no violation at all; they simply stopped the car and searched it without legal grounds: work documents, a clutch bag, wallets that were in my car, my personal and work documents. When I explain to them and they say "we could do this," they are idiots, that's what it means. 

Avakov's statement

Former interior minister Arsen Avakov said that he discussed Halushko's behavior a year ago with Servant of the People faction head Davyd Arakhamia and his colleague Denys Monastyrskyi, and that the episode that has now become public is not the only one. 

Arsen Avakov
former interior minister

Regarding the video of People's Deputy Mykola Halushko from the Servant of the People faction, published today in the media. First of all, I welcome the representatives of the SN faction, who immediately made public their position on the unacceptability of such behavior by a People's Deputy toward police officers. Very right and good! I very much hope that all recent incidents involving deputies from both the SN party and others, made public and not made public, publicized and not publicized, will happen less and less often. The fact that ordinary police officers have stopped tolerating such incidents and are making public, through journalists, the facts of "pleasant" encounters with deputies on the roads primarily shows a trend of rejection by both the police and society as a whole of such disregard for the law and unacceptable behavior. I hope that everyone in our country, and above all in the authorities, will draw the right conclusion: all patience has its limits!

He noted that the incident that happened a year ago was not the only one involving MP Halushko, and there were other episodes. 

Avakov said that regarding this case he spoke not with the MP but with Arakhamia and MP Monastyrskyi, who at that time headed the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement, of which Halushko is a member. 

According to the politician, the discussion concerned the unacceptability of such behavior by the deputy. Both colleagues agreed that it was an outrageous incident, and both of them had an appropriate conversation with Halushko. 

Arsen Avakov
former interior minister

There was never any secrecy in these conversations and never any special requests to this deputy, other than decent behavior! "I did not appoint this deputy to the cleanup" — responsibility for the quality and moral level of deputies lies with the political force that brings them into parliament! By the way, understanding the level and manner of communication of Mr. Halushko, I never personally contacted him. Prevention with him was handled by one of the deputy ministers, who, according to his official duties, interacted with parliament.

The driver who committed the traffic violation (for which the MP's car was lawfully stopped) was found guilty by a court decision and received an administrative penalty. 

Avakov said that everyone is equal before the law: "there are no special or untouchable people, no one whom the police have no right to inspect, no one who has the right to break the law." This applies to everyone: the president, a minister, a former minister, an ordinary person.