Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Kiev on Tuesday and Wednesday against a law signed by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which gives the prosecutor general – appointed by him – control of two independent anti-corruption agencies. [1], [2]
The country’s Prosecutor General can now close cases against top officials and investigations can be transferred to other agencies.
Zelenskyy said the bill would “cleanse” the agencies of “Russian influence” after he accused them of failing to prosecute cases against Ukrainian officials living abroad and suggested they were guilty of leaking information useful to Moscow.
Russia and Ukraine had a new round of ceasefire talks with no progress, but agreed to prisoner swaps.
However, being under pressure by the protests, he promised a new law that would restore the independence of agencies created after street protests in 2014 that led to a pro-Western government.
After their creation, the two agencies became the focus of Ukrainians’ ambitions to rid their country of corruption and join the European Union. Their purpose was partly to secure foreign aid and they were strongly supported by the countries that provided financial aid to Ukraine and by the International Monetary Fund.
It is of course unknown when Parliament will consider the new law, since it stopped working yesterday for the summer.
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