People's Deputy Serhiy Vlasenko announced political revenge by NABU due to the work of the Temporary Investigative Commission and criticism of anti-corruption bodies

Serhiy Vlasenko, a People's Deputy from the "Batkivshchyna" faction, links the actions of law enforcement agencies against the faction's representatives, particularly concerning Yulia Tymoshenko's case, to his activities as the head of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada investigating possible facts of corruption in the law enforcement and judicial systems, UNN reports.

Commenting on the serving of a notice of suspicion to the head of the "Batkivshchyna" faction, Yulia Tymoshenko, People's Deputy Serhiy Vlasenko stated that instead of genuinely fighting corruption, anti-corruption bodies have focused on public PR and political persecution of their critics.

The bodies that were supposed to fight corruption are instead engaged in their own PR and have turned into PR agencies. They have reached the point where instead of hiring detectives, they hire screenwriters and directors to work for them. They are neither law enforcement nor anti-corruption bodies, but merely lawless self-promoters. And I will tell you, you know, against the background of what our commission exposed in six months of its work – obvious facts of corruption in the system of the High Qualification Commission of Judges, in the system of illegal financing of the Public Integrity Council, in the sphere related to the organization of judicial competitions – no NABU is in a hurry to investigate all these things. Just as they are not in a hurry to investigate the activities of the so-called independent foreign supervisory boards. Just as they are not in a hurry to investigate the activities of those people who are appointed by these independent supervisory boards of state enterprises. That is, they are not engaged in this, they don't need it. Instead, they focus on political revenge against those people who publicly criticize them. Frankly and openly,

He also emphasized that before he started working as the head of the TISC, there were no claims against him from law enforcement agencies, including NABU and SAP.

I want to note that when I became the head of the commission, I appealed to all law enforcement agencies, to all of them, with statements and asked the guys, do you have any claims against me? And everyone, including NABU and SAP, wrote to me – no, there are no claims against you. And now, after I became the head, and I will tell you more, I read the message, I have the text of the notice of suspicion to Yulia Volodymyrivna, and I do not understand how they were going to attach me to this case. Because I was not even involved in presenting the faction's position at the Conciliation Council. From the moment I was appointed head of the temporary investigative commission, I was only engaged in the temporary investigative commission,

Yulia Tymoshenko herself, speaking from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, declared illegal searches and political pressure from law enforcement agencies. She also reported that during the investigative actions, employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine entered the office of People's Deputy Serhiy Vlasenko, despite the fact that he is on an official business trip to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and no investigative actions are being taken against him.

They ask me, where is Vlasenko's office? I say, what about Vlasenko? You came to me. No, they say, we also want to see what's going on in Vlasenko's office. Well, you know that Vlasenko heads the temporary investigative commission on violations in law enforcement agencies. Give us the key to his office. He says, if you don't give us the key, we will break down this door and do everything we need to. They went in and turned over the entire office there,

The leader of the "Batkivshchyna" faction emphasized that such actions, in her opinion, indicate an attempt to pressure not only her personally, but also the head of the temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada, which is checking the activities of law enforcement agencies.

In addition, Tymoshenko stated that she has no relation to the recordings of conversations published by NABU and emphasized that she will prove the groundlessness of the accusations in court.

Our entire faction publicly opposed NABU and SAP. Because, in essence, it is an organ of political pressure on politicians, on high-ranking officials. You know that we then proposed that it be an independent body, but appointed by Ukrainians, by some independent structure, so that there would be at least some control over them,

Recall

Earlier, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office reported suspicion to the head of the parliamentary faction "Batkivshchyna" Yulia Tymoshenko. The criminal offense is qualified under Part 4 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – offering or providing an unlawful benefit in a large amount or to an official holding a particularly responsible position.

NABU also published the so-called "Tymoshenko Tapes." According to the investigation, they record how a woman with a voice similar to Yulia Tymoshenko's discusses the coordination of parliamentary votes and directly offers monthly bribes for "correct" voting in the Verkhovna Rada.

In particular, the recordings state that before the vote, she will personally inform via Signal messenger how to vote — "for" or "against." According to the investigation, the purpose of this scheme could have been the actual paralysis of parliament's work: deputies were supposed to support bringing the issue to the floor, but block the adoption of specific decisions. And also to vote "for" the removal of ministers from their positions, and to "abstain" or vote "against" appointments.