No criminal evidence found against anti-corruption prosecutor, Lutsenko says

2018/4/17 23:53:52

Analyst: “…we believe Kholodnytskiy reached a behind-the-scenes agreement and capitulated to the political demands of Lutsenko, who has emerged victorious in his conflict with independent anti-corruption authorities that dragged on for several years.”

 


KYIV, Apr 17, 2018 - No criminal evidence was found on the wiretap recordings conducted of Nazar Kholodnytskiy, the specialized anti-corruption prosecutor of Ukraine, Concorde Capital informed clients based on an announcement by Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko at an Apr. 16 press briefing. In particular, no evidence was found of bribes being exchanged. At the same time, the recordings provide evidence of rules violations that require disciplinary action, he said. The Kholodnytskiy investigation is being handled by the Prosecutors Disciplinary Commission, said Lutsenko, who added he examined the recordings alongside Artem Sytnyk, the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. Kholodnytskiy is currently on leave, with Lutsenko fulfilling his responsibilities.

 

Recall, Sytnyk revealed in late March criminal charges were filed against Kholodnytskiy for allegedly pressuring officials and leaking information to those targeted by various criminal investigations. Both the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, led by Sytnyk, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, led by Kholodnytskiy, were created in 2015 to meet IMF demands for independent law enforcement bodies to pursue corruption investigations. They had been in fierce conflict with the Prosecutor General’s Office since their creation.

 

Concorde analyst Zenon Zawada added: “Lutsenko could have milked this scandal and dragged Kholodnytskiy’s name through the mud even further. And he could have pursued a criminal prosecution. Instead, we believe Kholodnytskiy reached a behind-the-scenes agreement and capitulated to the political demands of Lutsenko, who has emerged victorious in his conflict with independent anti-corruption authorities that dragged on for several years. He succeeded in manipulating a divide between Sytnyk and Kholodnytskiy by aligning with the former to discredit the latter. We expect Kholodnytskiy to remain in his post because he is useful to both Lutsenko and Sytnyk in his neutered, discredited condition.

 

“Unfortunately, the outcome is that the credibility of both of these anti-corruption bodies has been damaged to some extent. And we believe the Poroshenko administration will use this damaged credibility to downplay the importance of the creation of an independent anti-corruption court (also demanded by the IMF) with the Ukrainian public. Although that might work to some extent, we don’t expect the IMF to buckle to the Poroshenko administration’s attempt to water down the legislation creating the court, regardless of this scandal.”

 

 

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For more information, link here: www.concorde.ua 

 

 

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