Former SAPO prosecutor Andriy Bronevitskyi said that the dismissal of Deputy Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office Andriy Synyuk looks like a "classic institutional cover-up." He made this public comment while commenting on the circumstances of the resignation of the official involved in the high-profile "Mindych case."
Andriy Synyuk has long been considered one of the closest representatives of the SAPO to the Office of the President. In the materials of the "Mindych case", he appears as a member of a criminal organization - as an executor who passed on official information to the defendants.
According to Bronevytsky, Synyuk passed on data to third parties even in those proceedings where he himself was the procedural leader.
The main violation that the ex-prosecutor draws attention to is the manner in which the resignation took place. Synyuk was dismissed "at his own request," although Part 9 of Article 46 of the Law "On the Prosecutor's Office" expressly prohibits dismissing a prosecutor during an unfinished disciplinary proceeding.
According to the law, the procedure should have been different:
– SAPO internal control conducts a full audit;
– materials are transferred to the KDKP;
– the KDKP makes a final and independent decision.
None of these stages have been completed.
Despite the failure to follow the procedure, the dismissal was approved virtually immediately. Moreover, Synyuk received UAH 382,723 in severance pay, which is already reflected in his declaration. In fact, the person, who is described in the suspicion as a member of a criminal organization, not only avoided disciplinary liability, but also received significant compensation upon dismissal.
Bronevitsky emphasizes: the situation is no different from those cases for which anti-corruption agencies themselves criticize others. In a place where they should demonstrate exemplary transparency, there is a complete violation of procedures and a gift to a person involved in a criminal case.
According to him, this is more like a "quiet evacuation" than the rule of law:
the SAPO did not complete the investigation, did not transfer the materials to the disciplinary body, and allowed the top official to leave his post without any consequences.
As a result, the ex-prosecutor notes, the SAPO "should look in the mirror more often" - because the mechanisms for combating corruption often hide the practice of covering it up.
