Several flash drives were seized during a search of the car of Georgiy Birkadze, a person involved in the NABU data leak case. However, the anti-corruption officers have not yet found out who they belong to and what is on them. This is stated in the ruling of the HACC, UNN reports.
In particular, it is reported that detectives searched a Land Rover Range Rover and seized two flash drives, which they believe belong to Birkadze and may have evidence of the offense.
"The prosecutor noted that the flash drives may contain information that is important for the pre-trial investigation, hidden or deleted files, so they were sent for examination," the ruling reads.
As the SAPO prosecutor noted during the court hearing, the anti-corruption prosecutors could not examine the flash drives due to "the lack of specialists in the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the lack of equipment," and therefore it has not yet been established what information is contained on them.
At the same time, the defense stated that the flash drives seized from the car belonged to Birkadze's driver and he used them to listen to music. In addition, according to him, the prosecution was offered to examine the media for their content, but such an examination was not carried out.
The HACCU, in turn, prohibited the seizure of flash drives due to the lack of evidence of the need for such seizure.
Context
Giorgi Birkadze himself statedthat the case of the alleged leakage of information from the NABU was turned into a show instead of an investigation.
Another person involved in the information leakage scandal, Deputy Director of the NABU Gizo Uglava, also admitted that there are serious problems with the investigations of anti-corruption cases and noted that the bureau is focused on achieving "external goals" rather than establishing the truth.
Both are accused of passing internal NABU information to outsiders, which may have contributed to the averted punishment.
Add
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine is "known" for its ability to loudly announce the exposure of another scheme and to serve a top official with a notice of suspicion. However, often these cases of anti-corruption activists do not go further than "loud statements", because they fall apart in courts.
A good example is the criminal proceedings against former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan. Both cases collapsed in the courts. However, NABU did not officially apologize to the former minister for illegal criminal prosecution and damage to his business reputation. Omelyan himself emphasized that the NABU investigations had caused him significant reputational damage.
Another "high-profile" case of the NABU is the case against the former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi. According to the investigation, Solsky allegedly seized land plots in Sumy region that allegedly belonged to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences. However, the anti-corruption authorities have not yet been able to prove either that the land belonged to the NAAS or that Solsky took possession of it, although they have been investigating the case for five years. However, the public accusations did their job - Solsky resigned from his post as minister.
Only when they were in the shoes of the person against whom the NABU was investigating did the bureau recognize the problems. Although even international auditors pointed this out .