The National Anti-Corruption Bureau has long been criticized by lawyers. The issues of its creation, appointment of its leadership, and activities have been the subject of consideration by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and discussion among lawyers regarding compliance with the Constitution. The legal community has already cited egregious facts of corruption among NABU employees, which, in their opinion, were not investigated by the SBU or the SBI, and also suspected possible ties with the Russian Federation. This opinion was expressed in a comment to UNN by lawyer Volodymyr Bohatyr.
The lawyer noted that such bodies as NABU and the High Anti-Corruption Court were created in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine. In addition, from the very beginning, questions arose regarding the procedure for checking candidates for positions in these bodies. "The verification of candidates for positions in NABU and HACC was carried out by unknown international partners who had no understanding of either the judicial or law enforcement system of our state, did not know the Ukrainian language, the legislation of our country, and had a dubious reputation in their own countries. The procedure for selecting candidates for positions in NABU and HACC should become the subject of separate criminal proceedings, in particular, regarding the then leadership of the HCJ. As for NABU, there is a whole layer of work, especially with individuals who were "parachuted" from other countries. Here it is necessary to find out how they obtained citizenship and positions without knowing the language and education, and whether they renounced the citizenship of the country from which they came. Many of them did not even declare property in Ukraine.", – believes the Honored Lawyer of Ukraine.
As a result, according to Bohatyr, today we see a multi-vector dependence of NABU employees, both on internal Ukrainian clans and oligarchic groups that "delegated" them, and on foreign citizens and organizations.
"For several years, lawyers have openly pointed to serious violations. Neither the work of NABU's internal control department nor the external audit proved effective. Information about fake crypto wallets was exposed, and an investigation was conducted into how NABU detectives received funds from businessmen connected with the Russian Federation, but these facts were hushed up. These detectives had access to state secrets, and the SBU's Department for the Protection of National Statehood should have dealt with them long ago. Currently, the SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General have provided a preliminary procedural assessment, and we will continue to observe how effective the pre-trial investigation will be," Bohatyr noted, adding that the approach to selecting employees for such bodies should be changed.
"It is time to legally regulate the right of access to the law enforcement sphere and public administration only for persons who have permanently resided in Ukraine for the last 15-20 years and are its citizens. The criterion of having a domestic higher education for the law enforcement sphere must also be mandatory," the lawyer believes.
In this context, the issue of access to state secrets is also important.
"We see that NABU investigates important, high-profile cases related to public administration, defense issues, and strategic facilities, and accordingly, detectives have access to very sensitive information. In fact, the SBU was limited in checking candidates for positions in NABU and SAP, in particular regarding their ties with foreigners or interests in the occupied territories. In fact, these functions were curtailed at the legislative level," the lawyer believes.
Overall, Bohatyr concludes that the anti-corruption triad (NABU, SAP, and HACC) on the one hand underwent internal "fusion," and on the other hand, distanced itself from the Ukrainian law enforcement and judicial systems. In addition, NABU took on the investigation of crimes that were not within its jurisdiction, which led to conflicts with the SBU and SBI.
Finally, the lawyer positively assesses the fact that the SBU has finally paid attention to the anti-corruption bodies, which, in his opinion, often go beyond the law.
As previously reported, SBU, SBI, and OGP officers conducted over 70 searches of NABU employees.
In particular, Ruslan Magamedrasulov, head of the NABU territorial detective department, was detained on suspicion of aiding the Russian Federation. He is accused of mediating the sale of industrial hemp grown by his father to Dagestan. Also, during the investigation, law enforcement officers established that the high-ranking Bureau official had close contact with Fedor Khrystenko, a people's deputy from the banned OPZZh party, who fled the country and cooperates with Russian special services and influences NABU's activities. He was charged with treason.
Later, it was reported that a NABU Central Office employee, who spied for the FSB and works in the elite closed unit "D-2," was detained.
According to the investigation, the NABU employee's curator was Dmytro Ivantsov, deputy head of V. Yanukovych's security, who in February 2014 helped the fugitive president move to Russia, and he himself remained in annexed Crimea, where he was recruited by the FSB. The said employee collected and transmitted identifying data of Ukrainian law enforcement officers and other citizens to the enemy's special services.