Protests Kick Off In Kiev After Zelensky Shuts Down US-Backed Anti-Corruption Agency

In one of the largest demonstrations against the Ukrainian government since Russia invaded more than three years ago, WSJ reports that more than 2,000 people gathered near the president’s office, shouting “shame” and “veto the law,” after President Zelensky signed a law gutting the country’s anti-corruption agency.

The contentious measure grants his office greater control over the country’s independent anti-corruption bodies, in a move that critics warn would hand his circle enormous influence over investigations.

The FT reports that lawmakers hastily voted on Tuesday in favor of legislation that eliminated the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and its partner organisation the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). The bodies will be placed under the wartime authority of the prosecutor-general, who is appointed by the president.

“What’s happening is the demolition of the anticorruption infrastructure in Ukraine,” said Daria Kaleniuk, co-founder of the nongovernmental Anticorruption Action Center, who helped establish NABU after the 2014 revolution toppled a pro-Russian leader. She added that in recent months the U.S. seems to have dropped its emphasis on anticorruption efforts in Ukraine, which has freed the government’s hand to defang NABU.

There’s more to this tale than just a simple tyrant being greedy and holding on to power though as Moon of Alabama notes, an anti-corruption investigation had lately been moving in on some persons near to Zelensky himself.

Zelenski’s opposition was using the anti-corruption complex, the attached NGOs and media to keep some pressure on the government.

Last week’s public-relation attack by the opposition against Zelenski, via the Financial Times and other media, was supposed to gain it support from U.S. and European governments. However throughout the weekend no western support in form of public statements etc was received.

The Zelenski regime interpreted this as a green light to take down the last institution in Ukraine which is not under its direct control.

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The blitz against the anti-corruption organizations (accusations and searches on Monday, new law dismantling them on Tuesday) by the Zelenski regime was designed to surprise those who might have an interest in keeping some independent institutions in Ukraine. It is now too late to oppose it.

It also prevents NABU and SAPO from bringing up cases of corruption against Zelenski’s operators as well as against the president himself.

A European Commission spokesperson warned that the move could hold back Ukraine’s bid to join the EU and pointed out that Brussels’ funding to Kyiv was “conditional on progress on transparency, judicial reform and democratic government”. 

Ambassadors from the Group of Seven countries in Kyiv said after meeting with officials from the anticorruption office on Tuesday that they “have serious concerns and intend to discuss these developments with government leaders.”

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and a frequent critic of Zelensky, said the law “definitely does not bring it [Ukraine] closer to democracy, the rule of law and legality—to those values for which our soldiers are dying today.” Its authors, he added, were “dragging Ukraine into authoritarianism.”