French President Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Antonio Costa tried to convince Volodymyr Zelenskyy not to sign the law restricting the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAP).
This is reported by the Financial Times, citing sources.
According to media reports, Macron and Costa called Zelensky on July 22 "in a last-ditch attempt to dissuade him from taking this step".
The ambassadors of the G7 countries in Kyiv, at a meeting the same day with Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko and the SBU head Vasyl Malyuk, also called for a review of the decision.
The diplomats were kept in a room without phones for over two hours — one of them called it an attempt to "silence" them and prevent them from informing their governments about the rapid development of events in Kyiv.
In addition, an MP from the “Servant of the People” party anonymously told reporters how legislators were gathered to vote on a bill restricting the powers of the NABU and SAPO.
According to him, the Office of the President ordered the peopleʼs deputies to urgently return to the capital for an extraordinary meeting on July 22. The deputies from the "Servant of the People" were informed that the "boss" is closely monitoring and recording any manifestation of resistance.
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 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 investigation in cases that can be investigated by NABU;
- 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.
After public outcry, a group of deputies registered an alternative bill, which, according to them, should restore the independence of NABU and SAPO.
Separately, Zelensky said that he also agreed on the text of the document, which concerns the work of anti-corruption bodies.
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