Mykola Tomenko: The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine should not be authorized to raise Persecution by Political or National Affiliations
At the briefing on Friday, Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, informed that he was addressed by the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who reported on the new structure of the Main Department for Organized Crime Counteraction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, which envisaged several new units. Thus, M.Tomenko drew attention to the department on fighting extremism (12 persons) and the department on fighting ethnic organized criminal groups (12 persons).
Mykola Tomenko stressed that the international and domestic laws and the Constitution of Ukraine qualify it as a gross infringement upon human rights. He reminded that applicable laws do not define the term ‘extremism´, so such formulation of the unit name might provoke political persecutions. "The Ministry of Internal Affairs should protect the public order and fight corruption, instead of looking for people with different political views," he stated.
M.Tomenko addressed the President of Ukraine with a request to check whether such a structure of the Main Department for Organized Crime Counteraction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has been ratified.