Non-governmental organization “Anticorruption Action Center” is one of the most authoritative members of the “Reanimation Package of Reforms” coalition in the field of fighting corruption. It is owing to cooperation between the AntAC experts and other organizations – members of the RPR group “Anticorruption Reform” that not only a package of anticorruption laws was developed and adopted in October 2014, but also key institutions such as the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (its Public Control Council includes three AntAC representatives) and the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecution of Ukraine (AntAC representatives are engaged both in the top management selection panel, and in the selection of prosecutors to the SAP) were launched. It is also worth mentioning the role of the AntAC in the advocacy for open property registers, proper procedure of special confiscation, tackling corruption in the field of public procurement, etc. Actually, none of the anticorruption laws or resolutions since the Revolution of Dignity has been adopted without active participation of the Anticorruption Action Center.

On March 22, 2016, it was reported that on the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, Pechersk District Court of Kyiv issued an order to seize the documents of the organization and to provide access to all bank and financial information of the AntAC. The reason is pending investigation by PGO of alleged misuse of funds provided by the international partners to reform the prosecution. However, the AntAC has not received any money for the prosecution reform as such – it had a contract covering the training of NABU detectives and analysis of applications for the offices in the NABU and the SAP.

The Reanimation Package of Reforms considers such actions of the Prosecutor General’s Office and Pechersk District Court of Kyiv as a manifestation of pressure and repressions aimed at discrediting and blocking the activity of one of the most effective anticorruption organizations. It is the AntAC that has repeatedly criticized the Prosecutor General’s Office and its heads for:

• the failure to recruit new personnel during the establishment of local prosecutor’s offices (84% of former heads have been re-appointed as heads of the newly established local prosecutor’s offices);
• the lack of progress in and sabotage of the high-profile corruption cases (e.g. the case of ‘diamond prosecutors’);
• the incapability or malicious unwillingness to recover the proceeds of corruption received by the representatives of the former regime under Yanukovych presidency and the corrupt officials in the post-revolution authorities to the budget of Ukraine.

As experts of the Reanimation Package of Reforms, we demand the following:  

• to immediately put an end to political pressure on and persecution of the Anticorruption Action Center;
• to announce and hold a public discussion of candidates to the offices of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and his deputies;
• to carry out official investigations as to legitimacy of actions of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and his deputies;
• to adopt the draft law No.4281 on the procedure of establishment and functioning of the Qualifications and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors, which should restore trust in prosecution and ensure that new people will be recruited to the regional prosecutor’s offices and the Prosecutor General’s Office through engagement of authoritative prosecutors from the EU members states, the USA or Canada into this Commission.

The RPR stresses that after the Revolution of Dignity the law enforcement bodies and the judiciary can no longer be used as an instrument of political manipulations or pressure on the independent experts.

Best regards,
the Reanimation Package of Reforms civil platform