The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) has conducted searches of two prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO), one of them in the case of allegedly transferring an undue benefit in the amount of USD 3.5 million to judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC).
The Prosecutor General's Office has announced this, the Ukrainian News agency reports.
According to the PGO, based on the HACC ruling, NABU detectives conducted searches of two prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office as part of a pre-trial investigation in one of the criminal proceedings.
The events took place in February and July of this year. The court ruling states that one of the PGO employees, not within the framework of his official or procedural duties, allegedly could have been an intermediary in the transfer of an unlawful benefit in the amount of USD 3.5 million to judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court.
The same court ruling mentions another employee of the Prosecutor General's Office. His role, actions and possible involvement in corruption offenses are not specified in the ruling, as well as the validity of the grounds for the search. However, this morning, a search was conducted at his residence and workplace, which ended in vain - no items or documents of procedural importance were seized.
At the same time, the said prosecutor is a member of the group of prosecutors investigating criminal proceedings within the framework of which the facts of possible illegal activities of NABU detectives, in particular the head of one of the interregional departments of NABU detectives, Ruslan Mahamedrasulov, who is suspected of aiding the aggressor state (part 1 of Article 14, part 2 of Article 28, part 1 of Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), are being investigated.
"By a strange coincidence, it is in the midst of this investigation that actions are taken against the prosecutor that raise reasonable doubts about their objectivity. In this context, there is a risk of conflict of interest and selective use of investigative mechanisms by NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors. This raises serious questions about the true motives of the investigation and the impartiality of its participants," the PGO said in a statement.
The Prosecutor General's Office stated that it does not support any form of pressure on the process of politicization of criminal prosecution or "witch hunt", but is interested in the objective establishment of the truth. In order to respond appropriately and make informed management decisions, the PGO expects the NABU and the SAPO to officially provide the materials of the criminal proceedings. This is necessary to conduct an internal audit in accordance with the current legislation.
In case of confirmation of reasonable suspicions and availability of proper evidence base, all measures provided by law will be taken.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, the SSU has extracted new evidence against the head of the NABU detectives from his phone. The SSU has searched the home of former NABU detective Taras Likunov, who is the brother of Olena Shcherban, a member of the board of the Anti-Corruption Action Center and the lawyer of the head of the NABU detective department, Ruslan Mahamedrasulov. The NABU has announced that the SSU has searched the homes of former detectives working at Ukrzaliznytsia. The SSU has detained the head of the NABU detective department, Mahamedrasulov, on suspicion of aiding russia. According to NABU, the searches are likely related to their previous activities in investigations as part of investigative groups that exposed organized crime groups at state-owned enterprises and state authorities, including the SSU.
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