The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have released a statement on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's draft law.
According to reports from anti-corruption agencies, ‘Bill 13533, submitted by the President of Ukraine as urgent, restores all procedural powers and guarantees of independence to NABU and SAPO.’
‘NABU and SAPO participated in the preparation of the text and call on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt the President's initiative as a basis and as a whole as soon as possible. This will prevent threats to criminal proceedings investigated by NABU and SAPO,’ the anti-corruption authorities emphasised.
- On Thursday, President Zelenskyy submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada on ‘strengthening the powers of NABU and SAPO.’
- This was the result of the parliament's previous vote on the controversial law No. 12414, which limits the independence of anti-corruption bodies. After a quick vote, the head of state signed it just as quickly.
- As a result, partners expressed concern about this development. There was also information that the law could negatively affect investment in defence, which is unacceptable during an exhausting war with Russia.
- After the adoption of Law No. 12414, mass protests took place in many cities of Ukraine.
- The law was preceded by mass searches of NABU detectives, in particular, in cases related to traffic accidents in 2021 and 2023. Therefore, at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's law enforcement committee, amendments were made to the bill, which had nothing to do with NABU and SAP. These amendments give the Prosecutor General the right to take cases away from NABU, appoint prosecutors at his own discretion, and generally make him the de facto head of NABU, rather than the head of SAPO, who is selected through a competition.
- Zelenskyy said that the changes were necessary to ‘clean up’ NABU of Russians. Some accusations against individual employees concerned alleged work for the enemy. Recently, the court took precautionary measures against two NABU employees who are accused of collaborating with the Russians. The bureau's leadership assured that it was ready to cooperate in purging its ranks of Russian ‘moles.’
- NABU Director Semen Kryvonos also told LB.ua that information about the preparation of a campaign against the Bureau was available a month ago. For more details, read the article Semen Kryvonos: ‘This battle is not yet lost’