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The root of the problems in Ukraine’s anti-corruption policy is precisely the director of the National Anti-Corruption Office Artem Sytnyk, said Oleg Tatarov, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Artem Sytnik has been illegally appointed to the post of director of the National Anti-Corruption Office and must resign, Deputy Head of the President’s Office Oleg Tatarov said in a comment to Zakon i Biznes.
He recalled that the Constitutional Court decided that this official was illegally appointed to the position and “whether someone likes it or not,” no one canceled this decision and it has the force of law, the authors write.
According to Tatarov, Sytnik has no moral right to run the state’s anti-corruption department.
“This person is officially recognized as a corrupt official according to a judicial decision that has come into force legally. He was registered in the Unified State Registry of Persons who Committed Corruption or Corruption Crimes,” added Tatarov.
Now, according to the deputy head of the President’s Office, Sytnik is indicted in several criminal proceedings for inaccurate statement and illegal influence on the judges.
“Through a court decision, investigators examined Sytnik’s emails and found that he influenced the decision-making of economic courts in the interests of his family and friends,” Tatarov said.
The deputy director of the OP pointed out that Sytnik also misled the commission that carried out the selection for the position of director of NABU, did not meet the integrity criteria. According to Tatarov, Sytnik as a whole discredits the law enforcement system.
“I have the personal conviction that a new competition for the position of director of the institution should be held at NABU, taking into account exclusively Ukrainian interests,” he summarized.
The National Anti-Corruption Office of Ukraine was established in 2015. Since its inception, it has been headed by lawyer Artem Sytnik. Under the law, the NABU’s task is to counter corruption offenses committed by senior officials.
On September 6, 2019, the Sarny district court of the Rivne region found Sytnik guilty of violating the restrictions on receiving gifts determined by Ukrainian law due to unspecified information in the statement of the head of NABU on your holidays in the hunting grounds of Polesskoe-Sarny in the period from 2017 to 2019. …
Sytnyk challenged the lower court’s decision at the Rivne Court of Appeal, but the NABU director’s complaint was rejected. After that, Sytnyk was entered in the registry of persons who committed a crime of corruption. In 2020, he appealed the decision of the Ukrainian court to the European Court of Human Rights.
Sytnyk accused Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov of organizing this case. In his opinion, this is revenge for the so-called backpack case, in which Avakov’s son Alexander appeared.
In May 2020, the KSU received a presentation from 51 popular deputies. He said Ukraine’s fifth president Petro Poroshenko, who appointed the head of NABU, went beyond his powers.
On August 28, the CCU announced its decision on this petition. The court concluded that the decree on the appointment of Sytnyk was unconstitutional, as the Basic Law clearly defines the list of positions to which the president appoints (there is no NABU director among them). By issuing a decree on Sytnik’s appointment, Poroshenko exceeded his constitutional powers, according to the KSU.
At the same time, the KSU emphasized that the decision does not apply to legal relationships that arise as a result of the performance of official Sytnik duties. The representative of the President of Ukraine in the Constitutional Court, people’s deputy of the people’s servant Fyodor Venislavsky, explained that the decision of the Constitutional Court does not pose a threat to the cases investigated by the anti-corruption office – all actions committed by the director of the NABU before August 28, they will be considered legitimate and constitutional.
NABU described the Constitutional Court’s decision as one more step towards destroying the institutional independence of the department.
On September 16, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized as unconstitutional certain provisions of the law on NABU, in particular the provisions on the power of the President of Ukraine to create NABU, appoint and remove its director, appoint a member of the commission of external control to carry out an independent evaluation (audit) of the effectiveness of the office, its operational and institutional independence and approve the regulations of the Public Control Council and the procedure for its formation.
The NABU said that due to the KSU’s decisions, the audit and appointment of the head of the bureau would be prohibited.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an online meeting with the G7 ambassadors on November 19, said that the director of NABU Sytnyk will remain in office after December 16, and the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to recognize as unconstitutional some Provisions of the law on NABU do not yet pose threats that may affect the legitimacy of the office. and its chapters.
On November 27, the Verkhovna Rada registered bill No. 4437, which provides for amendments to the law on NABU, according to which the parliament may remove the head of the National Office if there are reasons provided for in the law.
The head of the Servants of the People faction in Verkhovna Rada, David Arakhamia, said that all parliamentary factions support the passage of the bill on the procedure to remove the head of NABU.
