Lawmaker Oleksandr Kunitsky Removed from Law Enforcement Committee. He Learned About It After the Fact

Oleksandr Kunitsky has for years reported on abuse and corruption among law enforcement officers.

The People's Deputy from “Servant of the People” Oleksandr Kunitsky has been stripped of his post as deputy head of the committee on legislative support for law enforcement activities and removed from the committee without his knowledge. Kunitsky said this on his Facebook page, adding that he learned about what happened from committee head Denys Monastyrsky only upon arriving at the committee meeting.

According to the lawmaker, when he arrived at the preparatory committee meeting, committee head Denys Monastyrsky told Kunitsky that a decision had been made to transfer him to the committee on transport issues; however, who exactly made this decision and when, the lawmaker was not told. 

Oleksandr Kunitsky
People's Deputy of Ukraine from the “Servant of the People” party

According to preliminary information, in this committee I was supposed to hold the post of deputy head of the committee. Today, arriving at the meeting, I learned from committee head Denys Monastyrsky with surprise that “someone” had decided to transfer me to another committee. Without explanation and without consulting me! Who could I be interfering with in reforming the police?

Deputy Oleksandr Dubinsky also reacted to the incident. He wrote on his Facebook that Kunitsky has dedicated years to fighting corruption and abuse by the Interior Ministry, and the faction leadership should respond to the ongoing lawlessness. 

Who is Oleksandr Kunitsky?

Oleksandr Kunitsky is known as the blogger zpsanek. His blog focused on exposing abuse and corruption among traffic police (HAI) and patrol police officers. His YouTube channel has more than 1 million subscribers. In July, Kunitsky was elected a People's Deputy from the Servant of the People party in single-mandate constituency No. 169, where he ran against Poroshenko's close ally Oleksandr Hranovsky. Oleksandr Kunitsky received the highest level of voter trust in Kharkiv region: more voters cast ballots for him than for the Servant of the People party in his single-mandate constituency.

As of publication, the leadership of the Servant of the People faction had not commented on the situation. It is worth noting that before being elected a deputy from Servant of the People, Denys Monastyrsky  was an aide to MP Anton Herashchenko. He is described as a figure from the orbit of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.

Earlier it was reported that MP Oleksandr Hranovsky, an ally of Poroshenko, was questioned by the SBI and NABU. The former MP is being checked for involvement in the illegal prosecution of politician Hennadiy Korban.