European Solidarity submits alternative bill on NABU/SAPO
The European Solidarity faction has registered an alternative bill to the presidential bill in the Verkhovna Rada to restore the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), said the faction's co-chair, MP Iryna Gerashchenko.
"Human rights activists and experts have already drawn attention to several significant comments on Zelenskyy's bill. In particular, it does not reinstate the canceled transparent competitive selection process for prosecutors, which, in the context of Ukraine, will increase prosecutors' dependence, provoke increased repression, and tighten the screws," Gerashchenko reported.
Additionally, the political force notes that the problem of extrajudicial searches remains unresolved. The excessiveness of these searches was particularly emphasized by the head of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). The illegality of the practice of extrajudicial searches in Ukraine has also received a reaction from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
"We believe that extrajudicial searches should only be possible for serious crimes, such as murder, rape, and mine laying. We also took into account the criticism we heard from SAPO and NABU. Here, the norm has been established that urgent searches can be carried out in cases of bribery or attempted bribery. This is important in the fight against corruption," Gerashchenko explained.
European Solidarity also demands to maintain transparent competitions in the prosecutor's office.
Gerashchenko also emphasized the need to return the President’s Office and its leadership, as well as the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) and its leadership, which were previously removed from it, to NABU's jurisdiction.
"Our team, which at one time created an anti-corruption infrastructure, and on July 22 tried to stop the violation of the regulations in the Verkhovna Rada and withdraw from consideration the scandalous bill on the destruction of the independence of the NABU/SAPO, insists on the immediate restoration of the full-fledged work of these institutions," Gerashchenko noted.
At the same time, Gerashchenko welcomes the bill 13533 registered by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, even despite, according to her, the violation of the regulations during its registration. "If the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had regulations and independence, Zelenskyy's bill would have been submitted and registered as an alternative, not a separate one. After all, it concerns the same topic as the deputy's bill," the MP explained.
European Solidarity called on MPs from all factions to return to Kyiv, where on July 31 the parliament should "promptly correct these errors that were voted on."
In turn, MP Viktoria Siumar from European Solidarity reported attempts to disrupt the meeting of the anti-corruption committee due to the alleged non-appearance of "representatives of oligarchic groups" and that, according to her, representatives of the Servant of the People faction could not be included there.
That is why Gerashchenko calls for the parliament session to be broadcast live.
"Society should know the position of the parliamentary factions, who votes how, and politicians should be responsible for this. If there is a live broadcast, it will discipline the hall in order to promptly and quickly correct the mistakes of July 22, so that the bill is adopted, immediately signed by the speaker, president and restores the independence of the work of anti-corruption bodies," she explained.
Siumar noted that the adoption of bill No. 12414 "upset Ukrainian society and caused dissatisfaction among our partners" and that is why they stopped financing social benefits, which is "a threat to every Ukrainian." "To unblock this, it is no longer the time to play various political games, although such a temptation exists," she noted.
Gerashchenko added that the deadline to appoint a legally selected candidate as head of the Economic Security Bureau is July 31. Among the priorities of international financial donors to Ukraine are the reform of the Economic Security Bureau and other urgent legislation that the authorities are sabotaging.