President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill limiting the independence of Ukraine’s two key anti-corruption institutions.
Ukrainian parliament approved amendments granting the general prosecutor newfound control over investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
The bill was passed with the support of 263 lawmakers, with 13 voting against it and 13 abstaining.
Under the new bill, the Prosecutor General has the authority to issue directions in NABU’s investigation or reassign them outside the agency. It also allows the Prosecutor General (Ruslan Kravchencko, who is close to Zelensky) to delegate SAPO’s powers to other prosecutors of his or her choice, and to shut down NABU investigations at the request of legal defence.
Protestors immediately gathered in Kiev, pressuring the president to veto the bill.
He ignored them and signed on, recognizing it publicly as “an emotional day”. In fact, law has already been published on Holos Ukrayini, a newspaper that publishes laws passed by parliament when they enter into force the following day.
Critics have said that the move threatens Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration, and have raised suspicions on the unusual speed with which it was vetoed.
“The European Union is concerned about Ukraine’s recent actions with regard to its anti-corruption institutions, NABU and SAPO. These institutions are crucial to Ukraine’s reform agenda and must operate independently to fight corruption and maintain public trust,” EU Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos expressed “serious concern” over the parliament’s adoption of the bill.
But the government passed raids on the two institutions in the days before the bill, citing extremely serious accusations: Russian infiltration, administrative misconduct, treason, drug trafficking. However, law enforcement agents reportedly used “excessive physical force”, leaving three NABU employees injured and in need of medical attention.
Earlier this month, the State Bureau of Investigation charged Vitaliy Shabunin, Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption activist and co-founder of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, with fraud and evasion of military service.
