Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko asserts that he did not request an expansion of his own authority over the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

Source: Ukrainska Pravda reporting from Kravchenko’s briefing in Kyiv on 23 July

Quote from Kravchenko: “I did not seek an increase in the powers of the Prosecutor General. My opinion was not consulted.”

Details: Kravchenko revealed that he discovered the amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, which bolster his influence over anti-corruption bodies, through the Telegram channel of MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.

Kravchenko brushed aside queries about the rushed adoption and signing of the law, insisting that legislation is the domain of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), while his role is merely to enforce it.

Background:

On 22 July, the Verkhovna Rada passed Law No. 12414 On Amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure Code on Peculiarities of Pre-trial Investigation of Criminal Offences Related to the Disappearance of Persons Under Special Circumstances in the Conditions of Martial Law, with amendments that make NABU and SAPO dependent on the decisions of the Prosecutor General.The heads of NABU and SAPO, Semen Kryvonos and Oleksandr Klymenko, called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to sign the document that would effectively destroy the independence of the anti-corruption agencies. However, on the evening of 22 July, Zelenskyy signed the law.Protests were held in many cities across Ukraine following the adoption of this legislative initiative.

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