NABU violates the presumption of innocence while remaining unpunished - shadow report of the European Commission

The detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) have repeatedly violated the presumption of innocence, as evidenced by numerous cases of public statements that created the impression of guilt of the defendants before the end of the trial. These data are provided in the Shadow report to Chapter 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights" of the European Commission's Report on Ukraine for 2023, prepared by a coalition of civil society organizations, UNN reports.

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. Such communication, which undermines the foundations of justice, creates prejudice in society and leads to false conclusions even before the final verdict is handed down by the court.

However, despite the cases of violations recorded by judges, there has been no public reaction from the NABU. In addition, the NABU's Internal Control Department has also failed to take any disciplinary action, leaving such cases unaddressed. This raises questions about the control over the actions of detectives and the compliance of their behavior with ethical and legal standards.

Civil society organizations are calling for more specific grounds for disciplinary liability and stronger control to ensure that the principles of justice are respected and to prevent further violations of the presumption of innocence.

This problem points to the need to change and raise the standards of the anti-corruption agencies to guarantee fairness and legitimacy in the fight against corruption in Ukraine.

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The presumption of innocence is one of the fundamental principles of the rule of law, which stipulates that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

However, in its activities, the NABU often violates this principle by publicly accusing suspects and actually shaping public opinion before the trial.

Oleh Shram, former advisor to the Director of the State Bureau of Investigation, said in a commentary to UNN that by violating the presumption of innocence, anti-corruption agencies are trying to shift the focus on the results of their activities from those expected by society to the intermediate stages of the investigation.

Statements about the bias and political involvement of NABU detectives in their investigations have been made repeatedly. Recently, however, they have been voiced by the leadership of the bureau . The reason for this was that the anti-corruption activists launched an investigation against the former first deputy director of the NABU, Gizo Uglava. Only after he found himself on the other side of the investigation did he admit that there were serious problems with the investigation conducted by anti-corruption activists and noted that the bureau was not focused on establishing the truth but on achieving "external goals.

There are also concerns about violations of the presumption of innocence by the NABU in the case against former Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solskyi. In particular, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group criticized the NABU for statements in this case that violate the presumption of innocence. The real reason for the prosecution of Solsky is the reform of the land market in Ukraine.