Sunday, 6 December 2015

Police reform - more PR than reformation

So-called police reform – it’s gross political PR plus large wastefulness from Ukraine’s state budget and here is the next example. This year on the Day of the Fight against Breast Cancer new patrol policemen presented rosy roses for ladies in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsya, Chernihiv, Mykolayiv to remind women about the necessity of the examination their health. I’d like to ask you, my dear readers, how do you think? Is this a duty of policeman – to work a medical consultant? Has nowaday Ukrainian state power a conscience, when presents expensive roses (nearly 15 hryvnias per 1 rose) in the streets, while many Ukrainian families can’t have just normal nutrition because of high food prices in the shops?
And would a real qualitative reformation of the militia into police begin with a systematic breach of state legislation? On 7th November new law “About National Police” (was accepted by Ukrainian parliament on 2nd July 2015) came into force and Ukrainian militia officially was renamed Ukrainian police. As I wrote in the previous article http://thoughtsanddreamsfromukraine.blogspot.com/2015/12/police-reform-with-georgian-colouring.html, the Head of National Police of Ukraine Khatia Dekanoidze had been assigned despite of the demands of the 21st article of this law. The same thing happened with the assignment of the First Deputy Head of National Police of Ukraine. On 4th November 2015 this post was headed by 29-year-old Oleksandr Fatsevych, a military man by his high education and job experience (he graduated from Odesa Institute of Land Troops and worked a paratrooper in the 79th Aerial-Mobile Brigade of Ukrainian Army). Earlier O. Fatsevych managed Kyiv Patrol Police since 12th June 2015 and was allocated on the post of the leader of Patrol Police of Ukraine on 6th November 2015, being the First Deputy Head of National Police of Ukraine at once and infringing Ukrainian laws. Fatsevych was born in Russia and moved with his parents in Ukraine in 1998, he is Russian-speaking person, like so-called reformers of Ukrainian police structure from Georgia, about whom it’s written in the last article on this blog.    
Instead of Oleksandr Fatsevych, on 16th November 2015 Yuriy Zozulya was appointed the Head of Kyiv Patrol Police, the ex-leader of Lviv Patrol Police from 20th August 2015, who had worked a private policeman in the newly-created Kyiv Patrol Police before these two state appointments. As the head of police Dekanoidze and her first deputy Fatsevych, Zozulya hadn’t high juridical education and sufficient job experience in Ukrainian state legal-protective institutions to govern Kyiv Patrol Police or Lviv Patrol Police according to the demands of the law “About National Police”, so his appointments are the breaches of that law too. Y. Zozulya’s biography is very strange, because there are nowhere his official biographical data nowadays. Almost after his assignment in Lviv Patrol Police he told Lviv journalists at special press-conference that he lived in private house nearby Kyiv and drove own car, but he refused to call his jobs before his police era, like he didn’t say where his parents and wife worked. Instead of it journalists of Lviv media online Zaxid.net and Lviv newspaper “Ratusha” learnt and published the information about Zozulya’s seven infringements of Ukrainian Rules of Road Movement in 2014-2015, and it’s curious to know that the seventh time was happened on 26th August 2015, when he has already been the manager of Patrol Police of Lviv! Besides it, the newspaper “Ratusha” wrote in September 2015 that Y. Zozulya had been detained in Ukrainian state custom-house “Yahodyn” on 13th August 2014 because of his import of the medicaments with prohibited narcotic and psychotropic substances in Ukraine. So such people get influential assignments in “reformed” police.  
Further, I would like to write about big difference of the wages in the bound of present police system in Ukraine. On 4th December 2015 Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov announced the future salaries for the top management of National Police of Ukraine in 2016 year: 98000 UAH/month (~4246$) for the Head, 70000 UAH/month (~3033$) for the Deputies Head, nearly 30000 UAH/month (~1300$) for the leaders of structural and territorial police subdivisions, 6163 UAH/month (~267$) for new private police officers.
But as of 5th December 2015, the official vacancy site of State Employment Centre of Ukraine (www.trud.gov.ua) proposed jobs with very small salaries for police officers. Thus, it’s open job offer for a guard in Kyiv Detention Facility with a salary 2500 hryvnias per month (~108$), the junior inspector in Odesa Detention Facility – 1450 UAH/month (~63$), junior inspector in the South Borstal in Odesa city – 2000 UAH/month (~87$), junior inspectors in Odesa Borstal – 2100-2400 UAH/month (~100-104$), a guard in the Department of Guard Police of Lviv region – 1580 UAH/month (~68$), a militian! in the Department of Guard Police of Lviv region – 2100 UAH/month (~100$), junior inspector in Lviv Borstal – 1600 UAH/month (~69$), a guard in Cherkasy Detention Facility – 1800 UAH/month (~78$), junior inspector in Chernihiv Borstal – 1450 UAH/month (~63$), junior inspector in Korosten Borstal in Zhytomyr region – 1550 UAH/month (~67$), junior inspector in P’yatykhatka Borstal in Dnipropetrovsk region – 2000 UAH/month (~87$), junior inspector in Vinnytsya Borstal – 1650 UAH/month (~71$), a guard in the Department of Guard Police of Volyn region – 1900 UAH/month (~82$), junior inspector in Kharkiv Borstal – 1800 UAH/month (~78$), junior inspector in Oleksiyivska Borstal in Kharkiv city – 2200 UAH/month (~95$), junior inspectors Derhachivska, Dykanivska and Kuryazka borstals in Kharkiv region – 1800 UAH/month (~78$), junior inspector in Oleksandriya Borstal in Kirovohrad region – 1700 UAH/month (~73$), junior inspector in Novyy Buh Borstal in Mykolayiv region – 1450 UAH/month (~63$).
I’ll also note several current food prices in Ukraine for better understanding of this unfair imbalance in as though “reformed police”. 1 egg – 2,20-2,25 UAH, 1 packet of the milk – 11-13 UAH, 1 long loaf – 7 UAH, 1 butter (200 grams)  – 17-18 UAH. How can so few money be proposed to private police officers for their work in the borstals, the detention facilities and the departments of guard police nowadays? How can the Head of National Police earn more than some junior inspector in a borstal in 68 times (comparing the wages in the amount of 98000 UAH and 1450 UAH)? And as Lviv police officers informed the journalists of “Lviv news” http://lvivexpres.com/news/2015/12/06/69918-policiyi-lvivskiy-oblasti-zatrymuyut-vyplatu-zarplatni on 6th December 2015, the police officers of Lviv region hasn’t yet received their wages for October 2015!, except policemen from Lviv Patrol Police, who haven’t wages delay. May the legislation be complied well in the country, when such diverse attitude to the workers and so various salaries exist even in the bound of police system? How can so large payment be fixed for the top management of "new police", while Ukraine's official minimal wage is only 1378 hryvnias per month (~60$) indeed? 

Thursday, 3 December 2015

Police reform with Georgian colouring in Ukraine

The most discussed so-called reform in Ukrainian state is the transformation of militia into police and its main “reformer” is advertised Georgian Ekaterina Zguladze-Gluksmann, who was appointed the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on 17th December 2014. Earlier she was Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia during one month in 2012, the First Deputy Minister of two Georgian ex-Ministers of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili and Bacho Akhalaia in 2006-2012, and Deputy Minister of V. Merabishvili in 2005-2006. Her two Georgian bosses are arrested and stay in jail nowadays. On 17th February 2014 Kutaisi court convicted V. Merabishvili to 5 years of imprisonment for the appropriation of unfamiliar property, the embezzlement of Georgian police’s money and breaking up the oppositional meeting on 26th May 2011, and on 20th October 2014 he was sentenced to 3 years in the prison for the abuse his official status (Merabishvili headed Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia since 18th December 2004 till 3rd July 2012 and was Georgian Prime Minister on 4th July–25th October 2012). On 22nd October 2014 B. Akhalaia, former Minister of Defence of Georgia in 2009-2012 and former Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia on 4th July-18th September 2012, was convicted by Tbilisi court to 7,5 years of imprisonment for the exceeding his state power and the organization of the tortures in Georgian prisons. E. Zguladze was assigned on the post of Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs on 19th September 2012 after the resignation of Minister B. Akhalaia, which was the main demand of Georgian society after published shock video of prisoners’ tortures in Tbilisi Gldansk jail no.8. So under such circumstances Ekaterina Zguladze became minister in Georgia and headed Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia till 20th October 2012. So how did Zguladze work the First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia? Did she know about their bosses’ activity and do nothing to change a situation and say nothing to the Georgian society? Then she was the accomplice of their crimes. Or did she not know how they were working? But then she was absolutely unworthy of her appointment! It’s incredible how companion-in-arms of such Georgian politicians from Saakashvili's team can be advertised in Ukraine. And here are another two examples of her first deputy minister’s activity in Georgia. E. Zguladze was that person who was communicating with Georgian journalists and told them about rightness of Georgian police during cruel breaking up the oppositional meetings in Tbilisi on 6th May 2009 and on 26th May 2011. And on 26th April 2009 the place of living of the participants of Georgian “Academy of the Stars” reality show - one Tbilisi building totally tumbled down and two participants perished. That accident wasn’t fully investigated and guilty wasn’t found. Perhaps, it happened thanks to Ekaterina Zguladze, who had been the wife of Gega Palavandishvili at that time, the director of this “Academy of the Stars”?
It’s also interesting to know if Ekaterina Zguladze-Glucksmann has French citizenship, because in 2011 she got married with Raphael Glucksmann, French journalist and the counsellor of ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili. Ekaterina and Raphael have common small son Alexander, who lives in Paris according to numerous French media online, so her husband and son are the citizens of French state, of course. Other curious thing is the reason of such her state posts in Georgia and Ukraine, because she hasn’t juridical education and hadn’t any previous experience in police system before her appointment in Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs. As French journalists wrote in the article “Ekaterina...police minister of two countries” on 9th April 2015 http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/l-obs-du-soir/20150409.OBS6834/ekaterina-ministre-de-la-police-de-deux-pays.html, she was called princess of Georgia for her night life in the youth and was assigned Georgian police vice-minister only thanks to her knowing all Tbilisi designers and DJ’s and visiting all fashion events in Georgian capital.        
Another former Georgian politician Khatia Dekanoidze became the Manager of National Police of Ukraine on 4th November 2015. Kh. Dekanoidze graduated from International Affairs Faculty of Tbilisi State University, was rector of Police Academy of Georgia in 2007-2012 and Minister of Education and Science of Georgia for over 3 months in 2012. As she told on Ukrainian television program “Secular Life” (1+1 TV-channel) on 13th March 2015, present Georgian state power accused her in the embezzlement of 10 millions of state money in the period of her management of Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. Then various Georgian media wrote that ex-minister Dekanoidze had allowed some Georgian high schools to enter educational partner program with American high schools, so only students of these select Georgian high schools could get American diplomas. Several Georgian media online (for example, www.ambebi.ge and www.news.ge) also confirmed in October of 2012 that Khatia Dekanoidze and David Saakashvili, the brother of ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, had secretly got married and he had left his first wife and their children in 2013. At that time Dekanoidze neither refuted, nor proved correct such information. It’s unknown if Kh. Dekanoidze and D. Saakashvili are still together, but they are living in Kyiv now, as M. Saakashvili talked Ukrainian journalists about his younger brother’s current residence. Why was such foreigner fixed by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko as the best candidate for the head of new “reformed” police of Ukraine in spite of valid Ukrainian legislation? It’s the enigma for Ukrainian society. Though according to the 21st article of new law “About National Police”, accepted on 2nd July 2015! by Ukrainian parliament, the head and the deputies head of Ukrainian police must have high juridical education, job experience in law field 7 and more years, the experience on the leading posts 5 and more years. As You understand, Khatia Dekanoidze doesn’t correspond to these demands of Ukrainian law, finally like Ekaterina Zguladze-Glucksmann and Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov don’t correspond too.
But these Georgian women aren’t unique Georgians in the management of “reformed” Ukrainian police. George Grigashvili, who had governed Patrol Police of Tbilisi in 2004-2006 and Patrol Police of Georgia in 2006-2012, was appointed the Head of Internal Security Department of National Police of Ukraine on 15th November 2015. It’s curious to find out that new Ukrainian policeman G. Grigalashvili wrote zero revenue in his Revenues and Expenses Statement of 2014 year. Neither he, nor his wife and his two daughters didn’t earn money in the last year and they got sole profit in the amount of 112 thousand hryvnias from the alienation of immovable and movable property. The real estate data are also absent in Grigalashvili’s income statement and his family has only one car. 
Does present Ukrainian state power sincerely think that Ukraine is perfect place for all unemployed politicians-failures from Saakashvili’s team, including Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili? Nowadays M. Saakashvili leads Odesa State Regional Administration since 30th May 2015, when he was assigned by P. Poroshenko. M. Saakashvili asked for his "comfort management" to allocate someone of his political comrades on the post of the Head of Department of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Odesa region and Giorgi Lortkipanidze, another Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia of ex-Minister Vano Merabishvili, was allocated on this post on 15th June 2015. So isn’t it an international corruption – to appoint the comrades-in-arms of one politician, besides it foreign politicians, on state posts in Ukraine? And here isn’t the explanation that Ukraine’s President Poroshenko gave them Ukrainian citizenship before their appointments. All Georgian politicians from Saakashvili’s brigade, including himself, are Russian-speaking statesmen in Ukraine, though every Ukrainian statesman must speak Ukrainian, because this is a sole official language in Ukraine, so it is clear to be not only corruption, but the infringement of Ukrainian laws plus a huge disrespect to Ukrainian state and Ukrainian nation. So is it the sense of the transformation of militia into police – to infringe Ukrainian laws, accepted even by "after-Euromaydan" state power?