[ANTICORRUPTION PROTESTS] Canceling 12414 is not enough! It’s too early to rejoice

[Edited machine translation]

Repealing 12414 is not enough! We demand that anti-corruption bodies be made effective and truly independent! And all those who pushed through this criminal bill must be held accountable!

After mass protests swept through Ukrainian cities in response to the adoption of a criminal law that effectively eliminated any chance of a genuine fight against corruption in Ukraine in the near future, the “servants” in power seem to have decided to partially back down. Today, Zelensky registered urgent bill No. 13533, which proposes to repeal the innovations introduced the day before yesterday regarding the organisation of the work of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). It also proposes introducing regular polygraph tests for employees of these and some other agencies to check whether they are working in the interests of Russian imperialism if they have access to state secrets.

Zelensky has also already managed to issue a hypocritical statement in which he pretends to listen to the people and ‘thanks’ the protesters, who in fact came out to protest precisely against what he, with Yermak-Tatarov and the rest of his ‘servants,’ urgently pushed through Parliament and he promulgated, and, in general, against the rest of the criminal activities of all these characters.

As a result, some “popular bloggers” and so-called “public opinion leaders” are already presenting the registration of this bill and its likely adoption as a “victory” and some kind of proof that “this government is not so bad after all,’”and that “see, they are still capable of listening to society,” and so on. But in reality, it is too early to rejoice, and such rhetoric is deeply harmful to the future of the Ukrainian people and only serves to keep the oligarchy in power by creating the illusion that they are capable of working in the interests of the people, and not just for their own enrichment.

Firstly, the bill has only been registered. It is not yet known when and in what final form it will be adopted. Will its provisions be distorted beyond recognition by further amendments, for example, and will some new nonsense appear in it again? Incidentally, it does not fully restore the previous state of affairs, but instead rewrites it in some respects, using legal constructs that are open to interpretation.

Secondly, the Narodovladdâ party claims that if the authorities have already decided to play with the use of polygraphs, the imperfection of which are widely recognised, then it should introduce mandatory polygraph testing as a legal requirement for all top officials with access to state secrets, in particular from the government and the Office of the President, as well as for all members of the Ukrainian parliament, and not just employees of NABU and certain other law enforcement agencies.

Thirdly, and this is the MAIN POINT:

1. Even if the work of the NABU and SAPO is returned to its previous state, this in no way removes the other issues that society has accumulated against the NABU and SAPO. These include the inefficient spending of billions in budget funds that go towards their maintenance every year without any significant results. These include their list of “untouchables” and their stubborn disregard for obvious facts of corruption involving a number of top officials. For example, the mayor of Kyiv, Klitschko, against whom the People's Power party has repeatedly appealed to the NABU with irrefutable evidence of his crimes while receiving n response a refusal to conduct a fair investigation. Decent NABU investigators told us directly that “Klitschko is protected”. There is also the systematic leaking of criminal case materials and much more.

Let's not forget about the undeniable corruption of the NABU leaders themselves – first and foremost, the notorious current director of the Bureau, Kryvonos, who should have been imprisoned for his corruption crimes while serving as head of the State Inspectorate of Architecture and Urban Planning of Ukraine, which was demanded by the People's Power party at the time, but who was pushed into the position of NABU director by the “servants” despite this, obviously in order to have their own man in such an important position.

All these facts must be subject to criminal proceedings, and all current and former NABU officials involved in corruption or treason must be sent to prison, first and foremost the top corrupt officials Kryvonos and Uglava.

We demand that the authorities not only “roll back” criminal law 12414, but also adopt amendments to the current legislation and pursue a personnel and management policy that will ensure the genuine effectiveness, independence and integrity of the work of NABU and SAPO.

In particular, truly transparent competitions must be held to fill senior positions in anti-corruption bodies, and the current Director of NABU, Kryvonos, must be in prison, not in the director's chair!

2. It is also extremely important to hold those responsible for this disgraceful spectacle, which has so stirred up Ukrainian society and disgraced Ukraine in the eyes of our foreign partners! After all, the way this law was passed is a crime in itself.

Therefore, the People's Power party demands that Zelensky immediately dismiss Yermak and Tatarov from their positions, as they are the de facto “overseers” of law enforcement agencies and were key figures in pushing through the criminal law 12414. They should be in prison for all their crimes!

We demand that law enforcement agencies immediately investigate all corruption and other criminal activities involving these individuals. The investigation of the cases against Yermak and Tatarov, by the way, will be a good test for the anti-corruption authorities – whether they are really ready to work seriously to eradicate top-level corruption in Ukraine, or whether they will continue to act according to the instructions of the “overseers” from Bankova [address of the Presidntial Office] or some other centres.

Separately, it is worth recalling the responsibility of those MPs who organised this whole shameful farce. If this criminal law is repealed, this will in no way exempt from responsibility those who pushed it through with the maximum possible violations of the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. First and foremost, these are: the head of the parliamentary faction of the “servants”, Arakhamia, and his first deputy, Motovylovets; the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Stefanchuk; and MPs from the law enforcement committee, Buzhansky and Pavlyuk. All these individuals must be questioned by law enforcement agencies.

And, of course, all 263 scoundrels with parliamentary mandates who voted for this criminal law must bear political responsibility – the Servant MPs, as well as MPs from the Opposition Platform – For Life, Trust, For the Future and the so-called “parliamentary opposition” – the Batkivshchyna faction, individual MPs from European Solidarity and Holos. We must also not forget the criminal inaction of those “people's” deputies who did not vote for this bill, or who allegedly “blocked the podium” or are now loudly shouting on social media and hypocritically attending protests, but in reality did nothing to prevent its adoption. Although there were enough of them to truly block the presidium of the Verkhovna Rada and disrupt the vote.

3. We would like to thank all people of good will for their joint struggle in recent days and urge them to remember that the criminal law 12414 is far from the only and not even the main problem among all the results of the “work” of the current Verkhovna Rada and, in general, the oligarchic power of the “servants” (or their equally oligarchic predecessors), as various “bloggers” are now portraying, talking about “victory”.

Today, everyone saw that protests can and should be held on issues that are truly important to the Ukrainian people, and that significant public pressure can ensure the repeal of criminal decisions by the authorities.

Therefore, active citizens should scale up their demands and not forget about all the anti-people laws that the Verkhovna Rada has passed in recent years, such as the unconstitutional Law 12089, which allows thieves of public property to keep what they have stolen and grants them amnesty, and which was supported (or ignored) by many of the “public opinion leaders” who are now shouting the loudest. Please be vigilant and do not allow yourselves to be misled. Together, we are strong.