Law enforcement officers will prepare proposals for changes to the legislation regarding the activities of law enforcement agencies, in particular the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO), and submit them to the president.
At a briefing, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said that this was agreed upon at a meeting with the president, Babel reports.
"At the meeting, there were speeches by the heads of NABU and SAPO, they believe that changes should be made. The head of SBU was also dissatisfied with some of the norms. We agreed that everyone would prepare objections and submit them to the president," he said.
He also noted that he would not abuse his right, which he received as a result of the changes to the law. This statement came after he said that he would check whether NABU was investigating cases that should have been conducted by law enforcement agencies.
"I can promise that I will not abuse my rights, and this can only be verified by events that will occur in the future. I can sign with blood if necessary," he said.
The Prosecutor General does not believe that after the adoption of the law, NABU and SAPO have become dependent. He also emphasized that if there is evidence of crimes, then he, as the Prosecutor General, will definitely sign the suspicions.
“If journalists think I will abuse my right [during my career], then I have never done that,” he said, adding that he would not do it now.
The Prosecutor General also emphasized that he will pay attention to those proceedings that have been idle for several years.
"Before that, my work with SAPO was constructive. I agreed with them on suspicions and other investigative actions," he noted, adding that they did not have to agree with him on every step.
What is happening with NABU and SAPO?
On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada adopted, and President 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 high-ranking 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.
What preceded the law
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 road accident (three employees were later reported as suspicious for this).
SBU also said that it had exposed a mole in NABU who was spying for 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, confidential NABU documents were found in Khrystenkoʼs house.
After studying the materials of the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, the court arrested two NABU employees — an employee of 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.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.