Ukraine's anti-corruption chief urges Zelenskyy to veto controversial new law
Photo: NABU director asks Zelenskyy not to sign the law (Yulia Akimova, RBC-Ukraine)
Semen Kryvonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), calls on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to sign draft law No. 12414 during a briefing.
According to the NABU head, the document adopted by the parliament effectively eliminates the independence of the NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
During the briefing, Kryvonos said that the adoption of this law is a blow to the entire anti-corruption infrastructure of the country, created in response to public demand after the Revolution of Dignity.
"The anti-corruption infrastructure has been destroyed. What was created as a request of Euromaidan, as a request of society, as a request to fight high-level corruption has been destroyed today," he says.
Kryvonos says that MPs acted in a conflict of interest when voting for the bill.
Today, on July 23, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law that empowers the Prosecutor General to interfere in the activities of anti-corruption bodies. The draft law was supported by 263 MPs.
The draft law provides for the following innovations:
- Prosecutor General is granted access to all NABU proceedings
- Prosecutor General will have the right to give binding instructions to detectives and change the jurisdiction of cases
- Prosecutor General will be authorized to close proceedings based on a motion by the defense
- Prosecutor General will be able to personally sign notices of suspicion to high-ranking officials
- The head of the SAPO loses the right to be part of the group of prosecutors - this will be decided only by the Prosecutor General.
Restriction of powers
Before the Rada considered draft law No. 12414, anti-corruption agencies stated this decision.
The law was passed amid pressure on anti-corruption institutions: The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted an inspection of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) regarding compliance with state secrets, and conducted large-scale searches of NABU detectives under the pretext of fighting Russian influence.
The European Union has expressed concern over the recent actions of the Ukrainian authorities against NABU and SAPO. A spokesperson for the European Commission reminded that the EU's financial support for Ukraine depends on real progress in transparency, judicial reform, and democratic governance.
