The heads of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) have implored President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reject draft law No. 12414, a move they warn obliterates the independence of these institutions.

Source: briefing by NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko in Kyiv

Quote from Kryvonos: “Now the anti-corruption infrastructure – what was forged from the Euromaidan demand, the societal cry and the urgent need to tackle high-ranking corruption – has been shattered. Today, it lies in ruins, undermined even by those suspected by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office.”

Details: He underscored that NABU and SAPO are “categorically against this”.

“Now [there is still time to stop it – ed.], there is also the president’s signature [to enact the decision – ed.]. We beseech him not to sign this bill and return it with a decisive veto,” Kryvonos asserted.

He warned that adopting this measure jeopardises Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic ambitions.

“We yearn to see Ukraine radiant, bolstered by a robust, powerful anti-corruption framework, because Ukrainian society deserves no less,” he concluded.

Background:

On 21 July, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office conducted approximately 80 searches of 19 employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau in various oblasts of Ukraine.The security forces did not have court warrants to conduct the searches, but they do not consider this a violation of the law since obtaining such warrants could “cause information leaks” and “harm the conduct of special operations”.NABU detectives are charged with treason, illegal trade with Russia and corruption in the interests of oligarchs. Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigations has stepped up its efforts with materials on a traffic accident that occurred several years ago involving NABU employees.Representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Office of the Prosecutor General are also checking the state of state secrecy protection in the SAPO. The check concerns NABU employees with access to state secrets and conducting covert investigative actions.Simultaneously, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) is poised to debate draft law №12414, which NABU and SAPO caution could erode the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions.On the same day, the ambassadors of the G7 countries echoed concerns over the SSU’s actions against NABU.

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