MPs register a bill on the restoration of the independence of NABU and SAPO

The law on the restoration of the independence of NABU and SAPO, which will repeal all provisions of Law No. 12414, was signed by 48 deputies from different factions. It will now be registered, and the Verkhovna Rada will be able to vote on it tomorrow.

This was reported by the MP Yaroslav Yurchyshyn.

On the eve, the MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported that the Verkhovna Rada went on a "break" until the 20th of August, but it is planned to convene next week, but the exact date is not yet known. According to him, they are still checking the votes "when it is as possible".

What is happening with NABU and SAPO?

On July 22, Volodymyr Zelensky signed Law No. 12414, which amends the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Among other things, the Prosecutor General will be granted the following powers:

• to take cases from NABU and entrust the investigation to other bodies;
• be the de facto head of SAPO and delegate the powers of the SAPO prosecutor to other prosecutors;
• provide the NABU detectives with mandatory written instructions;
• independently close cases on suspicion of top officials.

Amendments are also envisaged that will limit the activities of SAPO, namely:

• the SAPO prosecutors will not be able to determine NABUʼs jurisdiction in certain cases;
• the head of SAPO will not be able to resolve disputes about the subjectivity of investigation in cases that NABU can investigate;
• The head of SAPO will not have the authority to amend appeals and cassation complaints filed by the SAPO prosecutors.

NABU and SAPO emphasized that if the document is adopted, the head of SAPO will become a nominal figure, and NABU will lose its independence and turn into a unit of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office. In Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, and Dnipro, people took to the streets to protest against the bill, which continued the next day, July 23.

On the evening of July 23, Volodymyr Zelensky reported that he would propose to the Verkhovna Rada a new draft law on the work of anti-corruption bodies. He expects the heads of law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies to submit proposals on the norms that should work.

What preceded

On July 21, law enforcement officers conducted mass searches at NABU and SAPO. In particular, they detained one of the heads of the Bureauʼs interregional detective departments Ruslan Maghamedrasulov. According to the investigation, the official was in close contact with the fugitive MP from the banned “OPZZh” party Fedir Khrystenko (he was reported suspected of treason), who is connected to the Russian special services.

NABU reported almost 70 searches involving 15 of its employees. They stated that most of them were due to the employeesʼ involvement in a traffic accident (three employees were later reported as suspicious for this).

SBU also said that it had exposed a mole in the NABU who was spying for the FSB. At the same time, the Bureau says that back in 2023, the special service was informed about a possible mole, but at that time SBU did not reveal the involvement of the bureau employee in espionage.

NABU and SAPO also accused the Security Service of potentially revealing confidential information about the investigation during investigative actions. SBU called these statements manipulations.

And on July 22, SBU reported the discovery of new leaks of secret data in the NABU — during searches at Khrystenkoʼs house, confidential NABU documents were found.

After studying the materials of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, the court arrested two NABU employees — an employee of the NABU Central Office, who, according to the investigation, works in the closed unit "D-2", and one of the heads of the interregional departments of NABU detectives Ruslan Maghamedrasulov.

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