The conflict in the anti-corruption sphere in Ukraine is gaining new momentum. Gizo Uhlava, the head of the anti-corruption organization, submitted an official statement to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) regarding possible violations of anti-corruption legislation by Semen Krivonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
The first deputy director of NABU Gizo Uhlava submitted a statement to the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption about a possible violation of anti-corruption legislation by the head of the bureau Semyon Krivonos and became a whistleblower. He announced this on his Facebook page.
"I filed a statement about the existence of a real conflict of interest with the director of NABU in relation to me to the Disciplinary Commission, UVC and in the name of the Director himself. But she was ignored by all of the above. At the same time, a similar application was submitted to the specialized body - NAKC", Uglava said.
According to him, NAZK has started monitoring and control regarding the possible violation of anti-corruption legislation by the director of NABU.
He emphasized that Kryvonos pressures him with demands to resign, makes decisions under external influence, and not on the basis of the law, and also commits actions that undermine the rule of law in order to achieve private interest.
"In connection with the above, in accordance with the law, I have been assigned the status of a whistleblower. It is important to emphasize that, within the framework of official investigations, the director of NABU has already committed illegal actions under the conditions of an existing conflict of interests. NACP still needs to check these circumstances to ensure trust in the anti-corruption system of Ukraine," Uhlava said.
This is not the first statement by the first deputy director of NABU, Gizo Uglava, about external influence on anti-corruption officers and the bias of their investigations. Earlier, Uhlava said that the bureau was under threat of losing its independence, and detectives were under political pressure, which significantly reduced the effectiveness of the fight against corruption. In particular, under the pressure of activists and the head of the anti-corruption committee of the Verkhovna Rada Anastasia Radina.
He also complained about the bias and involvement of NABU detectives, and stated that the conclusions in the case against him regarding leaks of information from the bureau were made long ago "without trial and investigation."
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.
