Independent verification or a formality: Public Control Council demands standards for NABU audits

The Public Control Council has criticized the independent audit of the NABU because the criteria have not yet been published and its deadlines are unclear. Therefore, the PIC decided to create a working group to investigate the mechanism and procedure of the audit. This was reported by the Council , UNN reports.

Details

Last week, the NABU building hosted an offline meeting of the Public Oversight Council, to which the bureau's director, Semen Kryvonos, and his first deputy, Denys Gulmahomedov, and the head of the First Main Detective Unit, Oleksandr Abakumov, were invited.

One of the issues discussed during the meeting was the audit of the NABU, which began in early October.

The audit criteria have not yet been published, and the deadlines for the audit period are not clear. Of course, the PAC cannot influence the audit conclusion itself, but the issue of the NABU audit is important to us. That is why we voted to set up a working group in the PAC to study the mechanism and procedure of the audit. In order to improve the methodology of that audit in the future, or at least to enshrine at least some parts of the audit in the regulations

However, the working group will start working only after the auditors have completed their audit and presented their findings.

Recall

An external independent audit of the NABU finally began on October 3. The international experts who will be reviewing the work of the detectives held a closed meeting in Kyiv with representatives of NGOs and other civil society representatives working in the field of preventing and fighting corruption. At the meeting, anti-corruption activists and lawyers expressed concerns about the effectiveness of investigations and the transparency of the NABU's work .

Having received the necessary documents, the foreign auditors left Ukraineto develop and approve the criteria and methodology for the assessment.

Add

Recently, the public has raised many questions about the work of NABU detectives . In particular, there are frequent statements about the loss of independence of anti-corruption bodies in Ukraine. This was stated, among other things, by the recently dismissed First Deputy Director of the Bureau Gizo Uglava. He has repeatedly hinted that decisions at the NABU are made under the influence of external factors, not on the basis of the law. Among the individuals and institutions that he believes exerted this pressure were activists of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC) and the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy, who, as Uglava noted, used to work at the AntAC.

Uhla emphasized that the actions against him indicate serious problems in the NABU investigation process, which is focused on achieving external goals rather than establishing the truth.

The same opinion is supported by lawyers who also stated that the real goal of anti-corruption activists has turned from fighting corruption to putting pressure on certain public officials to achieve "external" goals.

In addition, human rights activists  raise the alarm about systematic violations of the presumption of innocence by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors.

This was documented, in particular, in the Shadow Report to Chapter 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights" of the European Commission's 2023 Report on Ukraine, prepared by a coalition of civil society organizations. According to the document, in a number of court cases, judges recorded violations of the principle of presumption of innocence by NABU detectives who, in public comments and interviews, actually "appointed" the defendants guilty.