Zelenskiy back-pedals on Ukraine anti-graft agencies

Perth Now

3 days ago

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has reversed course on a bill affecting the independence of the country's anti-corruption agencies in an effort to defuse a public outcry.
Earlier this week he approved a controversial law that was seen as undermining the agencies' autonomy - sparking Ukraine's first major protests since the beginning of the war with Russia, and sharp criticism from the European Union.
Zelenskiy said parliament would review a new bill, which "guarantees real strengthening of Ukraine's law enforcement system, the independence of anti-corruption bodies, and reliable protection of the legal system from any Russian interference."
Ukraine's two main anti-graft agencies — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office — quickly welcomed Zelenskiy's new proposal, saying it restores all their procedural powers and guarantees their independence.
The agencies said they helped draft the new bill, and urged lawmakers to adopt it "as soon as possible" to prevent threats to ongoing criminal cases.
Critics said the law approved by Zelenskiy earlier this week stripped Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies of their independence by granting the government more oversight of their work.
The president initially argued the law was needed to speed up investigations, ensure more convictions and remove Russian meddling.
After Thursday's U-turn, Zelenskiy said the new bill reverses the earlier changes and also introduced additional measures aimed at "combating Russian influence," including mandatory polygraph tests for law enforcement officers.
"The text is balanced," Zelenskiy said. "The most important thing is real tools, no Russian ties and the independence" of the anti-graft agencies.
The controversy surrounding the initial bill threatened to undermine public trust in Ukraine's leadership after more than three years of fighting Russia's full-scale invasion.
"It is important that we maintain unity," Zelenskiy said in his post.
Fighting entrenched corruption is crucial for Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid in the war. It is also an effort that enjoys broad public support.
The unrest has come at a difficult time in the all-out war. Russia's bigger army is accelerating its efforts to pierce Ukraine's front-line defences and is escalating its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine met in Istanbul for a third round of talks in as many months on Wednesday. But once again, the talks were brief and delivered no major breakthrough.
On Thursday, two women, were killed and 14 other people were injured when Russian forces dropped four powerful glide bombs on Kostiantynivka, an industrial city in eastern Ukraine, and shelled it with artillery, regional officials said.
Russian planes also dropped two glide bombs on the centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Thursday morning. At least 42 people were wounded, including two babies, a 10-year-old girl and two 17 year olds, authorities said.
The southern city of Odesa, and Cherkasy in central Ukraine, were also hit overnight. The drone and missile strikes on the cities wounded 11 people, including a 9-year-old, and damaged historic landmarks and residential buildings.
Ukraine has sought to step up its own long-range drone attacks on Russia, using domestic technology and manufacturing.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi killed two women and wounded 11 other people, local authorities said on Thursday.
An oil depot was also hit, officials said, without offering details.