Loud accusations and lack of real evidence - such statements are usually made by defendants in cases investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Today, however, the same is being voiced by the deputy director of the same NABU, Gizo Uglava, who has found himself on the other side of the investigation, UNN reports .
He asked to ensure public control over the NABU investigations, where he is the main defendant. In addition to public control, he also stated the need to protect anti-corruption officials from possible external influence. So, apparently, Uglava does not rule out that NABU is managed in a "manual" mode and he himself is afraid of a biased investigation against him.
Gizo Uglava addressed the Civil Oversight Council with three main requests:
- Ensure proper public control over pre-trial and internal investigations based on openness, transparency and impartiality.
- To protect the NABU and its staff from possible external influence and attempts to take the independent institution under manual control.
- Ensure proper public control and objective decision-making based on the results of a comprehensive review of the materials of two internal investigations during the meeting of the Disciplinary Commission.
As you know, there are currently two proceedings involving Gizo Uglava: a criminal case regarding mergers with NABU and a disciplinary case regarding pressure on a detective.
The NABU Public Control Council emphasized that supervision of the pre-trial investigation is not within their competence. However, the Council's representatives promise to do everything possible to ensure that the internal investigation is objective and independent.
We adhere to the functions of the Public Control Council, and therefore our representatives will review all materials of the internal investigation regarding pressure on the detective and ensure proper public control
It is worth noting that Gizo Uglava, after becoming a subject of the NABU investigation himself, admitted that there were serious problems with the investigation conducted by anti-corruption officials and noted that the bureau was not focused on establishing the truth but on achieving "external goals.
Even international auditors pointed this out .
Experts have also repeatedly stated that the NABU has problems in investigating cases. After all, anti-corruption activists are "known" for their ability to loudly announce the exposure of another scheme and serve a notice of suspicion to a high-ranking official. However, often these cases do not go beyond "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, the 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 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 investigators have not yet been able to prove that these lands belonged to the NAAS or that they were seized by Solskyi, although they have been investigating the case for five years . However, the public accusations did their job - Solsky resigned from his post as minister.
Therefore, the question arises whether it is not necessary to introduce public control over all "high-profile" cases of the NABU, given the above problems.
Recall
At the end of May, the NABU was caught up in a scandal - it became known about the alleged disclosure of pre-trial investigation data by the bureau's representatives in the interests of alleged businessman Yuriy Holyk, who is a person involved in the anti-corruption investigation into the Big Construction.
Due to this case, NABU Director Semen Kryvonos suspended his first deputy Gizo Uglava from his duties for the duration of the pre-trial investigation.
In addition, on June 20, another journalistic investigation was published about the alleged leakage of data from the NABU, in which the bureau's director, Semen Kryvonos, was implicated.