For the first time, Iryna Venediktova commented on her removal from the post of Prosecutor General

Iryna Venediktova said that she is not going to argue with the decision of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to remove her from the position of Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

This is her first comment on the matter. She made it public on July 18 on Facebook.

"I cannot and am not going to argue with the presidentʼs opinion or decision — the president has the right to make a decision, including the one discussed now. The procedure for the dismissal of the Prosecutor General is well known to everyone, there is no other, the other is not provided for by law," said Venediktova.

She emphasized that she has something to be proud of in her position: "she demonstrated good work results and managed to unite the legal, professional, and criminal procedural world elite around the problems of Ukraine in the interests of Ukraine."

Venediktova also commented on rumors in the media that she considers her removal illegal: "I declare responsibly that as of now, I have not discussed this issue with any person. And now I also refrain from commenting, for one simple reason — itʼs not the time for that."

• On the evening of July 17, two presidential decrees were issued — on the dismissal of Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and on the dismissal of the head of SBU Ivan Bakanov. Zelensky clarified that they were not fired. The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office and the SBU will conduct official investigations and inspections. After that, the president will decide whether to submit documents to the parliament about the dismissal of department heads. Bakanov was removed, and Venediktova was suspended so that they could not influence the investigation. For the time being, the duties of the Prosecutor General will be performed by Venediktovaʼs deputy, Oleksiy Simonenko, and Vasyl Malyuk, the first deputy of the head of the SBU will be in charge of SBU.