Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has approved new members of the Pardons Commission in the Office of the President, cutting the number of the commission members by four.

President's decree No. 615/2019 dated August 21, 2019 was posted on the website of the head of state on Wednesday.

Members of the commission include Head of the Office of the Presidential Office of Ukraine Oleksiy Dneprov (as head of the Commission), Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Oleksandr Pavlichenko (deputy head of the Commission), Deputy Head of the Department of Citizenship, Clemency, State Awards – Head of the Clemency Department of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ivan Pukhovets (deputy head of the Commission, was member of the previous composition of the Commission), executive director of the nongovernmental organization "Expert Center for Human Rights" Yuriy Bilousov, Head of the Administration of the State Criminal Executive Service of Ukraine Oleksandr Krikushenko, Deputy Justice Minister of Ukraine – Commissioner for European Court of Human Rights Ivan Lishchyna, chief consultant of the Department of Citizenship, Clemency, State Awards Office of the Presidential Office Oleksandr Marchenko (Secretary of the Commission), Board Chairman of the International NGO "International Society for Human Rights – Ukrainian section" Andriy Sukhorukov (was member of the previous composition of the Commission).

Thus, at the moment, the staff of the Commission has decreased from 12 to 8 people.