Ukrainian Rada dismisses Denisova as human rights commissioner

MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada has dismissed Liudmyla Denisova as its human rights commissioner.

The decision was supported by 234 parliamentarians at a session on Tuesday, Yaroslav Zheleznyak of the Holos (Voice) faction said on Telegram.

"The Rada has dismissed Liudmyla Denisova as human rights ombudsman, with 234 deputies voting in favor. There was no appointment today," he said.

Ukrainian media reported earlier that, while speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Denisova said that, following instructions from the presidential office, parliamentarians had started collecting votes in favor of passing a vote of no confidence in her at a Rada meeting on May 31.

Yulia Paliychuk of the Servant of the People faction said on Telegram earlier on Tuesday that the sufficient number of parliamentarians had voted for initiating a vote of no confidence in Denisova.

Another Servant of the People member Pavlo Frolov, deputy head of the parliamentary Committee on the Rules of Procedure, said on social media that Denisova's activity had been discussed at a faction meeting led by David Arakhamia and attended by Verkhovna Rada Chairperson Ruslan Stefanchuk and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk.

The faction members voted unanimously to initiate a vote of no confidence in Denisova resulting in her dismissal in line with Article 12 of the law on a martial law legal framework, he said.

Frolov said Denisova virtually failed to perform her duties on arranging humanitarian corridors, defending and exchanging captives, and other human rights functions, while Vereshchuk had to take on those duties instead.

The Verkhovna Rada had appointed Denisova human rights commissioner on March 15, 2018.