Parliament wants to make amendments that would make NABU and SAPO subordinate to Prosecutor General
The Law Enforcement Committee of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada voted to include amendments in bill No. 12414, set for its second reading, that would place the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the authority of the Prosecutor General, according to MPs Yaroslav Zheleznyak, Anastasiya Radina, and Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center.
The amendments were added to bill No. 12414, which addresses changes to the Criminal Procedure Code regarding pre-trial investigations of missing persons under special circumstances during martial law.
According to Radina, the amendments “render SAPO a decorative institution and fully subordinate the activities of NABU and SAPO to the will of the Prosecutor General.”
Specifically, the amendments grant the Prosecutor General the following powers:
- Act as the de facto head of SAPO and delegate SAPO prosecutor duties to other prosecutors;
- Issue mandatory written instructions to NABU and demand materials from any case;
- Transfer requested cases to any prosecutors;
- Reassign investigations under NABU’s jurisdiction to other agencies.
The full document with the proposed amendments was published by Vitaliy Shabunin.
“If these changes are passed, Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure will effectively be destroyed. I consider the consequences of adopting this bill catastrophic for the state,” Radina wrote.
She urged parliamentarians not to support the bill. Zheleznyak and Shabunin noted that a vote on the bill is planned for July 22.
What is happening at NABU?
On July 21, searches were conducted at the premises of NABU and SAPO employees, with at least 70 searches reported by morning.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General claimed to have uncovered Russian influence within NABU, accusing certain employees of treason, illegal trade with Russia, and corrupt actions benefiting oligarchs.
Ruslan Mahamedrasulov, the head of NABU’s interregional detective units, was detained on suspicion of aiding Russia. Additionally, an NABU employee from the elite, secretive “D-2” unit was arrested in Kyiv on charges of spying for Russian intelligence.
Fedir Khrystenko, a current MP from the banned Opposition Platform-For Life party now hiding abroad, was identified as a key FSB agent allegedly responsible for enhancing Russian influence over NABU, according to investigators.
Three NABU employees were also charged in relation to traffic accidents, which NABU stated were unrelated incidents from years ago.
NABU reported that these investigative actions were conducted without court warrants. Simultaneously, the SBU initiated an unscheduled inspection of state secrets protection at NABU during a period when NABU and SAPO leadership were on official foreign trips. A routine inspection by the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection, covering NABU’s technical infrastructure, was also underway.
SAPO claimed that SBU personnel conducted the inspection without formal notification, as required by law, and accessed information on all covert and operational measures and special operations conducted by NABU and SAPO.
The SBU denied these claims, stating it did not access such information and called allegations of disclosing covert investigative actions “baseless and manipulative.”
The SBU added that it can conduct urgent investigative actions without court warrants in cases where obtaining them could lead to information leaks or jeopardize operations related to collaboration with the aggressor state.
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