Gizo Uhlava, the former first deputy director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), filed a lawsuit challenging his dismissal from his post. He claims that the process by which he was removed was a violation of established procedures and involved a conflict of interest.
He once again called his dismissal from NABU "illegal and ordered" and stated that this was evidenced by numerous violations during the official investigation. In particular, according to him, the investigation of civil servants assigned to category "A" positions should be conducted by the Commission on Higher Civil Service Corps, the composition of which is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, and not by the disciplinary commission of NABU.
"Therefore, the NABU Disciplinary Commission's conclusion regarding me is that it was issued by an inappropriate body. And my dismissal on the basis of such a conclusion is illegal," said Uhlava.
He also emphasized that NABU director Semyon Kryvonos had no right to fire him.
"Firstly, because of the conflict of interests, the pursuit of personal goals and due to the pressure on him from interested parties, and secondly, because I have the status of a whistleblower", - emphasized the former deputy director of NABU.
According to him, the anti-corruption bureau is "hiding" from him and his lawyers the materials and the conclusion of the disciplinary commission, in particular the protocol on the distribution of votes.
"Therefore, my demands remain unchanged - the annulment of the illegal results of the investigation, issued in violation of procedures, which became the basis for my dismissal. The court should put an end to this discussion," Uhlava emphasized.
Gizo Uhlava held the position of first deputy director of NABU for more than 9 years. On September 3, 2024, he was dismissed from the bureau, the official reason being the violation of the oath of a civil servant and the rules of ethical behavior.
It is worth noting that a few months before his dismissal, he managed to make a number of high-profile statements that exposed potential problems in the management and investigation processes of cases by anti-corruption detectives.
Uglava accused the management of NABU, in particular director Semyon Kryvonos, of pressure aimed at forcing him to resign. And he also applied to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption against the director of NABU and received the official whistleblower status.
At that time, the acting deputy director of NABU repeatedly hinted that decisions in the bureau were made under the influence of external factors, and not on the basis of the law. Among the persons and institutions that, in his opinion, exerted this pressure were the activists of the Anti-Corruption Center (CPC) and the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-corruption Policy, who, as Uglava noted, previously worked in the CPC.
Statements about the NABU's bias and political involvement have already been made several times, but anti-corruptionists did not pay attention to them.
A clear example is the cases of anti-corruption officers against former Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan. He repeatedly stated that the detectives were biased towards the case against him due to political involvement. Both cases against him collapsed in the courts, but NABU did not officially apologize to the ex-minister for illegal criminal prosecution and damage to business reputation.
There is also concern about violations of the presumption of innocence by NABU, as in the cases against Mykola Solskyi and People's Deputy Serhiy Kuzminykh.
The Kharkiv human rights group also criticized NABU for statements that violate the presumption of innocence. The real reason for the persecution of Solsky is considered to be the reform of the land market in Ukraine.
