Reformer of the week: David Sakvarelidze
David Sakvarelidze, an ex-deputy prosecutor general, became the latest top reformer to face official charges on Sept. 14. Sakvarelidze, an ally of ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, is accused of illegally transporting him through the border and resisting law enforcement officers during Saakashvili’s breakthrough into Ukraine on Sept. 10. Two Saakashvili supporters have been arrested in criminal cases.
Sakvarelidze tried to reshuffle the prosecutor’s office through competitions — though the efforts were blocked by then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. He also arrested two top prosecutors in a graft case in 2015. Another reformist ex-deputy prosecutor general, Vitaly Kasko, was charged with fraud in 2016.
Sakvarelidze sees the cases as part of a political witch hunt of government critics. Activists of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center — Dmytro Bulakh and Yevhen Lisichkin — were heavily beaten on Aug. 30 and Sept. 18, respectively. In August, anti-corruption activist Vitaly Shabunin was charged with assaulting a blogger.
On Sept. 14, the Security Service of Ukraine also raided the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, accusing it of divulging a state secret. On Sept. 15, Radio Liberty said presidential security guards had assaulted Radio Liberty journalists, although they deny this.
Anti-reformer of the week: Valentyna Simonenko
Valentyna Simonenko, head of the Council of Judges and a judge of the Supreme Court, has been vetoed by the Public Integrity Council, a civil society watchdog, during the ongoing competition for a new Supreme Court. However, the veto has been overridden by the High Qualification Commission, and Simonenko may be appointed to the Supreme Court by the High Council of Justice in September.
Simonenko’s sister serves Russian occupation authorities in Sevastopol as an official, while her ex-husband had business ties to occupied territories while they were still married, and she visited the areas after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the Public Integrity Council said. Simonenko argued that she disagreed with her sister on politics and that she had nothing to do with her ex-husband’s activities.
Simonenko has also criticized judicial reform, lambasted Serhiy Bondarenko, a whistleblower judge pressured by his boss, failed to punish judges who persecuted EuroMaidan demonstrators, lashed out at electronic asset declarations and criticized the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Public Integrity Council said. Simonenko argues that she has done everything in her power to help whistleblower judges and punish those involved in political cases. She has failed to declare firms owned by her ex-husband but said he had not informed her of them.
Vyacheslav Nastavny and Serhiy Slynko, who were also nominated for the Supreme Court, have participated in the political persecution of Yuriy Lutsenko, now prosecutor general. At least 30 of the 120 Supreme Court nominees are deemed dishonest or corrupt by the Public Integrity Council.
