He has managed to make some progress in investigating crimes against EuroMaidan demonstrators since he took on his role in 2014. His work was so valued that, in March, lawyers for slain EuroMaidan protesters called for Horbatyuk to be made prosecutor general.
Now, however, lawyers say the work of Horbatyuk’s department has been sabotaged by the current leaders of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Horbatyuk and Sergii Leshchenko, a lawmaker from the Bloc of President Petro Poroshenko, said on April 20 that Deputy Prosecutor General Yury Stolyarchuk had opened investigations against Horbatyuk’s department. Leshchenko said the cases are reprisals against reformers and added that prosecutors were planning to file a notice of suspicion against Horbatyuk, who said his superiors had threatened to fire him. The Prosecutor General’s Office denied the accusations.
Anti-reformer of the week: Yury Stolyarchuk
Deputy Prosecutor General Yury Stolyarchuk is in charge of the recently-created anti-corruption department, which has been accused of fabricating criminal cases for political reasons.
Stolyarchuk’s subordinates have opened investigations against ex-deputy prosecutor generals Davit Sakvarelidze and Vitaly Kasko, reformist top prosecutor Serhiy Horbatyuk, Odesa Oblast Administration and the Anti-Corruption Action Center. Critics say the cases are a political vendetta against these people and organizations for their criticism of prosecutorial corruption.
Stolyarchuk, who is responsible for all investigations at the Prosecutor General’s Office, has also been accused of sabotaging high-profile graft cases against ex-President Viktor Yanukovych’s allies and incumbent officials. He denies all the accusations.
Stolyarchuk reportedly used to be Poroshenko’s preferred candidate for prosecutor general, but his public image is now likely too tainted for him to get the job.
