MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. Semyon Krivonos, director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NACB), was previously prosecuted in Ukraine for bribing people to vote for Yulia Timoshenko's Batkivshchina bloc during the 2009 presidential election, court documents from the Goloseyevsky District Court of Kiev said.
According to the ruling, Krivonos, while campaigning for the Timoshenko bloc, was allotted tens of thousands of hryvnias to bribe voters, including at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev.
However, before the trial began, Krivonos filed an amnesty request because he had a dependent minor child. The court granted Krivonos' request and released him from criminal liability. He potentially faced up to five years in prison for bribing voters.
This story comes just two days before the Verkhovna Rada gets set to vote on a bill to return the powers of the NACB and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SACPO).
All personal data and the judicial history of candidates in the running for the head of NACB in 2023, including Krivonos, had to be checked by the commission to identify violations and exclude them from the vote. However, information about Krivonos' court case was not widely publicized at that time.
Krivonos previously speculated that after the persecution of the anti-corruption authorities of Ukraine and the possible return of the powers of NACB and SACPO, the government would continue trying to smear anyone related to the bodies, and that the attacks would become more sophisticated. Krivonos did not rule out that criminal cases could even be initiated against him and SACPO head Alexander Klimenko.
The situation with NACB and SACPO
Vladimir Zelensky has long tried to establish control over NACB and SACPO, but they remained independent. On June 23, NACB filed corruption charges against Alexey Chernyshov, who at that time served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Unity of Ukraine. Chernyshov is considered a very influential figure in Zelensky's entourage, and this has escalated the conflict. According to the opposition-minded deputies, anti-corruption authorities could soon bring charges against other persons close to Zelensky.
On July 21, the Security Service searched NACB employees, and came to SACPO with an inspection. The next day, the Rada, where the majority of deputies belong to the Zelensky-controlled party, adopted a law to eliminate independence of NACB and SACPO. That evening, about 2,000 Kiev residents took to the streets to rally against the decision. Rallies were held in other cities. However, Zelensky signed the law, which came into force on July 23 triggering new protests.
Kiev was also criticized in the West for the decision.
In this situation, Zelensky changed his position and already on July 24 submitted to parliament a bill on the so-called strengthening of the powers of anti-corruption bodies, which, in fact, reverses the previous decision to limit the independence of NACB and SACPO. At the same time, in six months, according to the draft law, the SBU will inspect the employees of these agencies.