One in eight cases by NABU and SAP ended with an acquittal in court, according to a shadow report.
Every eighth case that goes to court from the detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) ends with an acquittal. This information is included in the Shadow Report for Section 23 "Justice and Fundamental Rights" of the European Commission's Report on Ukraine for 2023, prepared by a coalition of civil society organizations, as reported by UNN.
Details
The Shadow Report indicates significant issues within the Ukrainian anti-corruption justice system. In 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court (VAKS) issued 31 guilty verdicts (40 individuals were convicted) and four acquittals (five individuals were acquitted).
The main problem highlighted in the report is the poor quality of the evidence gathered by NABU detectives and SAP prosecutors, which leads to the acquittal of defendants. There are examples where detectives illegally collected evidence that was either not accepted in court or completely lacked substantiation.
The report also emphasizes the large number of criminal cases being handled by NABU, some of which are not priorities. Each year, the workload on VAKS increases, leading to longer case review times. Currently, the average time to conclude a case with a verdict is 517 days, with the maximum reaching 1684 days, or almost 5 years.
Additionally
The public has repeatedly pointed out that NABU is wasting state resources and time on cases that are not critically important and have questionable judicial prospects.
For instance, a representative of the Public Oversight Council (SOC) of NABU, Yekaterina Datsenko, made a loud statement about the low effectiveness of detectives in investigating corruption in the defense sector. According to her, a significant increase in corruption cases in the defense sector was expected with the onset of full-scale war. However, to date, only 48 criminal proceedings are underway, with suspicions communicated to only 7 individuals.
Concerns about NABU spending time and resources on cases with dubious prospects have also been noted by international experts evaluating the work of the detectives.
A clear example is the case against former Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan. Almost three years were spent investigating this case, which ultimately resulted in an acquittal by VAKS. Notably, neither NABU detectives nor SAP prosecutors faced any public apologies to Omelyan or penalties for illegally bringing him to criminal responsibility.
A similar situation may now repeat with former Minister Mykola Solskyi, who was publicly accused by NABU and SAP in May of land appropriation. This is not about Solskyi personally seizing land, but rather about him assisting ATO fighters in formalizing land plots that, according to detectives, should have been allocated to other individuals, particularly those to be auctioned by the State Property Fund for land sales.
This case has been ongoing for eight years, reasonable investigation timelines have long been exhausted, yet detectives decided to announce suspicions this year. The immediate plans involve questioning nearly one and a half thousand ATO fighters.
At the same time, NABU recently engaged in internal disputes with its former first deputy, Gizo Uglava, accusing him of violations in the performance of his direct duties. Uglava, in turn, claimed that NABU is a politically biased organization under the influence of external parties. Details of the scandal can be found here.