Rada abolished the independence of NABU and SAPO – the law has already been handed over to Zelenskyy

The Verkhovna Rada has supported Law No. 12414, the amendments to which abolish the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. This was reported by from the broadcast MP from the Holos Yaroslav Zheleznyak.

The decision was supported by 263 MPs. There were 13 votes against, the same number abstained, and 35 MPs did not vote at all. By factions and groups: ruling Servant of the people received 185 votes, Platform for Life and Peace and Restoration of Ukraine (formerly banned OPZJ) – 18 and 9 respectively, and Trust – 17, Batkivshchyna – 15, For the future – 10, Eurosolidarity – 3, Holos – 1.

The amendments to the draft law provide for the dependence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office on the Prosecutor General.

These amendments expand the powers of the Prosecutor General in relation to anti-corruption bodies:

→ he can now be the de facto head of the SAPO and delegate the powers of the SAPO prosecutor to other prosecutors;

→ provide the NABU with binding written instructions and request materials from any cases;

→ transfer cases to any prosecutor;

→ to delegate the investigation of cases within the NABU's jurisdiction to other bodies.

ADDED. MP from the Servant of the People, member of the Defense Committee Fedir Venislavskyy said LIGA.net that with these amendments, the SAPO has definitely lost its independence, and that "it will be seen in a few months".

As for whether this is a threat to joining the European Union, the elected official said "we need to analyze it." Venislavskyy is a constitutional law specialist and holds a PhD in law.

UPDATED. The law has already been signed by Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, and the document has been submitted to president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his signature.

• On the morning of July 21, the SSU and the Prosecutor General's Office began "a special operation to neutralize Russian influence on the NABU". One of the heads of NABU detectives detained on suspicion of doing business in the Russian Federation. Also, an employee of the Central Office of the agency was detained – he, according to the investigation, spied for Moscow. As for one of the defendants, the NABU stated that earlier, the SSU investigation found no evidence of his cooperation with a former Ukrainian official who defected to the occupiers.
• Also suspected were MP from the banned OPZJ Khristenko – law enforcement officials said he was a senior FSB agent and influenced NABU. The Security Service stated that NABU secret documents were found in the possession of MP's relatives.
• In total, the NABU reported 70 searches of at least 15 of its employees. In parallel with the SSU and the PGO, the State Bureau of Investigation served three suspicions on NABU employees for participation in accidents in 2021 and 2023.
• Simultaneously, the SSU conducted checking the implementation of the law on state secrets in the SAPO. The latter claimed that the SSU had gained access to information on all covert and operational activities, as well as special operations conducted by the SAPO with the NABU. The Security Service denied this information and stated that "the inspection does not provide for familiarization with the content of such documents as a whole."