Heads of anti-corruption bodies try on political uniforms – Bronevytskyi
24 December 20:22
Stanislav Bronevytskyi, a lawyer and former employee of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, has criticized the media behavior of the heads of the NABU and SAPO, saying that anti-corruption agencies are increasingly turning from law enforcement institutions into PR and political structures. He said this on the air of the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to him, he has recently observed a dangerous trend when the heads of anti-corruption bodies actually “try on political uniforms” and use the institutions for public pressure rather than for professional investigation of crimes.
“The issue is that lately we have seen the heads of these bodies trying on political uniforms and using these institutions to discredit certain specific people. In order to make certain individuals bear political rather than criminal responsibility, as provided by law,” he said.
Bronevytskyi is convinced that this practice is destructive for the entire system and can eventually lead to consequences similar to the Polish scenario, when anti-corruption structures were liquidated due to politicization.
“These things are irreparable… We will end up with the same thing if we do not stop what is happening now,” he emphasized.
He also drew attention to media investigations and public announcements of investigative actions, which are increasingly appearing on the Internet even before the completion of procedural procedures.
“We see media investigations, announcements of investigative actions, online investigative actions on the Internet, some journalists are present when NABU employees enter certain premises to conduct investigative actions. This must be stopped, because it is a one-way street,” he said.
In his turn, MP Serhiy Vlasenko emphasized the need for anti-corruption agencies to fulfill their key role – professional law enforcement investigation without political overtones.
“We need our entire law enforcement system, in particular (or primarily) the NABU and the SAPO, to go this way from a PR and political agency to a real law enforcement agency,” he said.
