2024-03-27T18:01:00+02:00 Politics 2024-09-15T04:33:49+03:00

Ukrainian news

Defense Ministry official using topic of Crimean lawyers in political struggle - media

Defense Ministry official using topic of Crimean lawyers in political struggle - media

The current official of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and lawyer Illia Kostin lobbies for the creation of bodies in the system of the Ukrainian bar, which can turn into "punitive," because they will consider the work of Crimean lawyers in the occupation without the participation of the latter.

This is stated in a publication by Dilova Stolytsya (Dsnews), Ukrainian News Agency reports.

According to media reports, journalist Olena Melnyk in her blog on the Censor.net drew attention to the concept developed by the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) with the participation of Illia Kostin.

Kostin, in addition to being the head of the department for the development of military justice and interaction with law enforcement agencies of the Main Directorate of Military Justice of the Ministry of Defense, is also a member of the UBA board.

This document proposes to resume the activities of the Council of Lawyers of Crimea and the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Crimea before the de-occupation of the peninsula. The media draw attention to the fact that under such conditions, the Crimean lawyers remaining on the peninsula "will be deprived of representation and the right to be heard."

"This approach looks outrageous and will only increase distrust of the Ukrainian bar by those Crimean lawyers who remain on the peninsula and did not betray Ukraine," the journalists stress.

The main purpose of the work of these bodies is declared the fight against collaborators. At the same time, the bodies of legal self-government and now without additional bodies punish traitor lawyers within their competence, depriving them of the right to practice advocacy, the material says.

The media note that the official of the Ministry of Defense Illia Kostin has a conflict with the leadership of the Ukrainian National Bar Association, because before the start of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation, he was engaged in advocacy. The conflict concerns disciplinary proceedings that law enforcement agencies opened against Kostin. He reacted to these proceedings with political accusations.

At the same time, the official himself previously also worked in the bodies of lawyer self-government.

"However, after he was "asked" from these bodies due to repeated scandals, Mr. Kostin began to "brand" first individual representatives of the bar, and later - the system as a whole," the journalists note.

The publication also draws attention to the fact that against the background of this conflict, the lawyer repeatedly called for "destroying the current bar system." At the same time, he proposes to restore the Ukrainian bar in the Crimea within this system: "So the sincerity of his position raises certain questions," the material says.

The media notes that Kostin de facto uses the status of the military to increase recognition in media. "Which in the future can be converted into additional points, for example, in order to lead the bodies, the creation of which Illia Kostin himself is lobbying for now," the media summarizes.