“The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) did not conduct any effective criminal proceedings regarding information leaks during the pre-trial investigation. And this undermines public trust in the institution. This is stated in the report based on the results of an external independent assessment (audit) of the National Anti-Corruption Agency of Ukraine. Auditors believe that information leakage is a chronic problem for NABU, and the risk of illegal disclosure of information”, — write on: ua.news
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) did not conduct any effective criminal proceedings regarding information leaks during the pre-trial investigation. And this undermines public trust in the institution.
This is stated in the report based on the results of an external independent assessment (audit) of the National Anti-Corruption Agency of Ukraine.
Auditors believe that information leakage is a chronic problem for NABU, and the risk of illegal disclosure of pre-trial investigation information remains significant. At the same time, the auditors emphasize that the leak of information “undermines public trust in institutions”, regardless of whether it occurs with an illegal purpose (for example, notifying a subject of an upcoming search) or with an allegedly noble purpose (for example, providing information to a journalist).
Although NABU took some measures to reduce the risk (a working group was created to study the causes of information leakage, a training program for detectives was adopted, and a Register of Information Leakage Risks was created), according to the auditors, the Bureau generally failed to demonstrate the effectiveness of these control mechanisms.
The commission of auditors, which included international experts Martin Arpo, Robert A. Westbrooks and Hermione Cronje, also criticizes the practice of active participation of the head of the Bureau in official investigations, because it “creates unnecessary opportunities for bias.” Currently, the NABU Director approves all official investigations.
The problem of leaks was also systemic in the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP), as ex-prosecutor Stanislav Bronevytskyi stated, mentioning the dissemination of investigation data by a certain circle of journalists and deputies.
The first high-profile “spoilage scandal” at NABU happened a year ago, when NABU director Semyon Krivonos dismissed his first deputy Gizo Uglava as a result of an official investigation. The latter denied involvement in the showers and disputed it after taking a polygraph.
Deputy Prosecutor of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) Andrii Sinyuk, who is being bombarded with “pours” of information regarding the investigation of the Midas special operation, has resigned from his post of his own accord.
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