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Reformer of the week – Laura Kovesi
Laura Kovesi, head of Romania’s National Anti-Corruption Directorate, or DNA, was fired by President Klaus Iohannis on July 9 as the country’s kleptocratic establishment avenged her for the directorate’s strong campaign to stamp out graft.
The formal excuse for the firing was alleged “abuse of power” but her uncompromising stance on top-level corruption appears to be a more likely reason. On June 21, the High Court of Cassation and Justice convicted Liviu Dragnea, leader of Romania’s ruling Socialist Party and the country’s most powerful man, to three and a half years in jail in a DNA abuse of office case.
Kovesi, who had headed the DNA since 2013, has brought about a genuine anti-corruption revolution, inspiring the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine in 2015. The DNA has shared its experience with the NABU.
Under Kovesi’s leadership, the DNA has successfully prosecuted dozens of mayors, five MPs, two ex-ministers, an ex-prime minister, as well as hundreds of former judges and prosecutors.
According to a 2015 poll, 60 percent of the Romanians trusted Kovesi’s DNA, and only 11 percent trusted parliament.
The major difference with Ukraine is that DNA cases resulted in successful convictions by independent courts. The NABU, however, is being stifled by Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky, who is blocking its cases, and corrupt old courts.
Kovesi’s dismissal may be followed by the elimination of the NABU’s independence if Ukrainian authorities decide to use three loyal auditors to fire Artem Sytnyk, head of the bureau.
Anti-reformer of the week – Arsen Avakov
Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Nazar Kholodnytsky’s office said on July 12 it had closed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine’s graft case against Interior Minister Arsen Avakov’s son Oleksandr and the minister’s ex-deputy Serhiy Chebotar.
Kholodnytsky’s office said that a low-level suspect, Volodymyr Lytvyn, had pled guilty and given testimony that Oleksandr Avakov and Chebotar had not been involved in the scheme.
This version clearly contradicts the video footage investigated by the NABU in which Chebotar and Oleksandr Avakov negotiate the corrupt deal. The authenticity of the video has been confirmed by several witnesses and an international examination.
A NABU source told the Kyiv Post that Kholodnytsky had reached a deal with Avakov and other top officials that he would stay on his job in exchange for closing the Avakov case. Kholodnytsky’s office denied the accusations.
A prosecutorial commission will consider on July 26 whether to fire Kholodnytsky due to audio tapes according to which he pressured prosecutors and judges to stop NABU cases against high-profile suspects.
Meanwhile, anti-NABU pro-government thugs, known as “titushki,” on July 17 and attacked anti-corruption activist Vitaly Shabunin with a green antiseptic, injuring his eyes. The titushki were also filmed taking money for their rally.
Ilia Kiva, an ex-aide to Avakov, was leading the titushki. Ruslan Zhurilo, a suspect in a NABU case and ally of ex-lawmaker Mykola Martynenko from Avakov’s People’s Front party, was filmed nearby.
Also on July 17, pro-government thugs led by an associate of Yevhen Deidei, a People’s Front lawmaker and also a NABU suspect, stormed into the NABU building and broke a camera, doors and a turnstile, with Avakov’s police idly standing by.
Video footage from Chebotar’s office also implicates Avakov himself, his deputy Vadym Troyan and his state secretary Oleksiy Takhtai in alleged corruption, although they deny the accusations of wrongdoing.
In one of the videos, Chebotar, Takhtai and state firm Spetsvervis CEO Vasyl Petrivsky, an ex-aide to Avakov, negotiate a corrupt deal to sell sand at a rigged auction. Chebotar says that Avakov is also aware of the scheme and is worried that the sand has not been sold yet.
Avakov claims the video is a fake. However, Petrivsky has already pled guilty and has been convicted to a suspended prison term in a theft case for the sand sale scheme described in the video.
Avakov, the nation’s top cop, has also been under sustained criticism for failing to reform the 220,000-member Interior Ministry, where corruption and incompentence remain high.
