Opinions about responsibility for collaborationism differ.
responsibility for collaborationism – Ministry of Justice” alt=”Post-war amnesty can be a way out in order not to change the legislation on responsibility for collaborationism – Ministry of Justice” />
Ukrainian human rights defenders believe that the criminal legislation regarding responsibility for collaborationism cannot be changed, because after the end of the war an amnesty will be announced in one form or another. told what the Ministry of Justice thinks about thisin an interview with ZN.UA, the deputy head of the department Valeriya Kolomiets, with whom Tetyana Bezruk spoke.
“Human rights defenders are right here, amnesty for certain actions is also a likely scenario of the transition period, after the victory. There is no unequivocal solution in this discussion,” Kolomiets said.
In response to the remark that these are our people who one day woke up in the occupation and did not choose it, the deputy minister stated that different journalists have different views on this issue. In particular, according to her, some people ask why stricter measures have not been prescribed for them. Therefore, as Kolomiets stated, she does not currently have a recipe or an answer to all these questions. She emphasized that this is a story about a certain rethinking of the social contract within the country, and we need to do it now.
“It was accepted as a harsh response to those who, being under occupation, want to support the occupying power. It was adopted in conditions where we had no experience of deoccupying large territories. I repeat: this law is no longer about the prospect of de-occupation, but about the reaction to a full-scale invasion. In my opinion, we definitely need to change this law in the perspective of our victory. I know, discussions on this topic are conducted in expert and human rights circles, and in the parliament. The issues of lustration and amnesty are also being discussed,” Kolomiets answered the question of whether the law on collaborators adopted in the spring of 2022 took into account the risks that people who will be under occupation for a long time will not have money and savings.
As for involving the Ministry of Justice in working out amendments for future amendments to the legislation, the deputy minister said that the department is involved in working on a strategy for de-occupied territories.
“The main role here belongs to the Ministry of Reintegration, the representative office of the President of Ukraine in the ARC. Accordingly, we join with our expertise,” Kolomiets added.
Read also: Deputy Minister of Justice: “The legislation on responsibility for collaborationism must be changed . But after the war”
Speaking about the body that should be engaged in lustration in the de-occupied territories, the deputy minister noted that today it theoretically becomes clear, that this process is a matter of the future.
“When the Law on Lustration, which is currently in force, was adopted, the Ministry of Justice was designated as the body responsible for the process. Even later, the Venice Commission explained that it should be an independent body with its own secretariat, an apparatus that carries out inspections. At one time, our Ministry worked out a draft law, with which we proposed to redesign the architecture of the existing mechanism of lustration to the requirements of the Venetian, where a similar body was actually described. And therefore, if we still return to lustration in our transition period, we can use the basis that we have already developed,” Kolomiets added. Ihor Ponochovny of Sevastopol stated that the KKU article on collaborative activities, which does not take into account the specifics of the long-term occupation of Crimea, is somewhat dangerous, and Russia is manipulating it. Therefore, it must be changed.
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It should be noted that criminal liability for collaborators in Ukraine has been effective since March 15 last year. Then Art. 111-1 of the Criminal Code, which establishes responsibility for the following types of activities:
- public denial of armed aggression against Ukraine, public calls for cooperation with the Russian Federation;
- occupation of positions in illegal authorities in the temporarily occupied territory, election to such bodies;
- propaganda in educational institutions;
- transfer of material resources to illegal armed formations in the temporarily occupied territory;
- organization and implementation elections, referenda in the temporarily occupied territory or public calls for their holding;
- organization and holding of congresses, meetings, meetings, demonstrations, informational cooperation with the occupation authorities;
- occupation of a position in illegal judicial or law enforcement agencies in the temporarily occupied territory;
- participation in illegal armed formations of the aggressor state;
- assistance in conducting combat operations against the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteer formations formed to protect Ukraine.< /li>
