Ukraine’s tax police, an agency that was supposed to be liquidated in January, opened a criminal case against the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the watchdog said on Aug. 2.
The move followed a campaign by Ukrainian authorities to discredit and restrict anti-corruption activists and opposition politicians.
Critics accuse President Petro Poroshenko’s administration of becoming more authoritarian, monopolizing power and stifling opponents.
Poroshenko was asked about persecution during a press conference in May. He explained that Ukraine faced unprecedented security risks linked to the war with Russia. At the same time, he said, “Ukraine’s civil society is enjoying more freedom than ever.”
The tax case against the Anti-Corruption Action Center, known as AntAC, comes after Poroshenko on July 27 canceled the Ukrainian citizenship of ex-Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a major rival.
Criminal cases
Criminal cases have been opened against those who have taken on corruption in Ukraine’s establishment.
These include ex-prosecutors Vitaly Kasko and Davit Sakvarelidze, ex-head of Odesa customs Yulia Marushevska, National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine deputy chief Gizo Uglava and reformist lawmaker Sergii Leshchenko.
Sakvarelidze faced criminal cases related to ordering searches of two top prosecutors in the corruption case dubbed as the “diamond prosecutors” in 2015, as well as spending of U.S. government money.
In late 2016, prosecutors and the National Agency for Preventing Corruption opened investigations against Leshchenko. The unlawful enrichment case concerned Leshchenko’s purchase of a 192-square meter apartment worth Hr 7.5 million ($281,000) in Kyiv in August 2016. In February, Kyiv Pechersk Court found him not guilty.
Also in February, the National Agency for Preventing Corruption started an investigation against Marushevska over an $18 bonus. The investigation was started by Security Service of Ukraine deputy chief Pavlo Demchyna.
Timur Nishnianidze, a former employee of Saakashvili, was accused of getting illegal tax refunds when he was Georgia’s consul in Odesa from 2007–2012.
The case was initiated by prosecutors who have been accused of having links to Ihor Kononenko and Oleksandr Hranovsky, lawmakers close to Poroshenko.
Other Saakashvili allies who faced criminal cases include ex-customs official Roman Bakhovsky and Sasha Borovik, an ex-aide to Saakashvili, who also lost his Ukrainian citizenship.
Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk also recently became a target of prosecutors on suspected tax evasion.
Garbage blockade
Another opponent of Poroshenko targeted by prosecutors is Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy.
Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko said on March 14 that Sadovy could be charged and suspended as part of a negligence case into garbage disposal in Lviv. Sadovy said he sees this as political persecution.
Sadovy leads political party Samopomich that holds 26 seats in parliament and is in opposition to Poroshenko. He also said he would run for president in 2019. Samopomich lawmakers on June 20 started a hunger strike to protest what she sees as Poroshenko’s efforts to discredit Samopomich and its leader.
Political critics removal
Poroshenko has also come down hard on critics. In March 2016, opposition lawmakers Yegor Firsov and Mykola Tomenko, who left the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko, were expelled from parliament by the party.
The Constitution allows for the ouster of lawmakers who leave their political parties, but Firsov and Tomenko say their expulsion was illegal due to procedural and other violations. Opposition lawmakers had never been expelled before.
Smear campaign
AntAC and its president, Vitaly Shabunin, have been facing a smear campaign. In February, executive director Daria Kaleniuk was threatened with charges by the National Agency for Preventing Corruption for paying Hr 9,841 ($378) to Leshchenko for lectures on fighting corruption.
The recent investigation by the tax police is yet another attempt to “find dirt,” says Olena Shcherban, chief lawyer and board member.
The letter from the tax police says that the case was opened after an appeal from a third party. Anyone can submit evidence of an alleged crime to law enforcement agencies for investigation, lawyers explain.
Shortly before the case was opened in June, Pavlo Pynzenyk, a lawmaker with the People’s Front party, showed a video to the parliament alleging embezzlement of grants by AntAC. The film that investigated Antac was produced by National Interest, a non-profit organization that launched their website on May 22. As of August, it produced only one investigation – that of Antac.
In a letter that Kyiv city prosecutors sent to Pynzenyk on July 12, it’s said that the head of National Interest organization, Vasyl Apasov, sent a request to start the investigation regarding Antac as he suspects its members of tax evasion.
While contacted by the Kyiv Post, Apasov said that they will keep submitting requests to law enforcement agencies if they see that the organizations they’re investigating violate the law. According to Apasov, they already submit evidence of violations regarding Health Ministry procurement system and voting for the members of the Civil oversight council at the NABU.
In 2016, AntAC received $419,458 in grants from George Soros’ International Renaissance Foundation, the U. S. Agency for International Development, the governments of the Czech Republic and Netherlands.
Previous attacks
In March 2016, prosecutors started an investigation against the watchdog for alleged embezzlement of grant money that AntAC received from the U.S. government. The case was closed, however, after a statement from the U.S. Embassy.
But a year later, the state’s fight against anti-corruption activists intensified.
On March 27, Poroshenko signed into law requirements that oblige anti-corruption activists to file electronic asset and income declarations identical to those of public officials.
It didn’t stop there.
In April, several people protested Shabunin’s “corruption” near the house in Kyiv where the activist lives. The demonstrators, however, appeared to not know what the protest was about, leading to suspicions that they were hired.
Shabunin blamed the Security Service of Ukraine’s Pavlo Demchyna; the agency denied the claims. However, an investigation by Radio Svoboda found that an SBU employee was at the protest and commissioned video footage. In late May, a video was uploaded on YouTube that appeared to be a fake news report. The host in the newscast, Michael-John Wolfe, turned out to be an actor who was hired to do it.
When contacted by the Kyiv Post, Wolfe said that he had no idea who Shabunin was.
“I assumed the videos were made by his friends or someone playing a prank on him,” Wolfe said.
In June, two officers and several activists with a camera served Shabunin a summons to a military enlistment office. Shabunin, who is not fit for military service for health reasons, viewed this as part of the authorities’ crack down.
In July, Adam Ereli, U.S. ambassador to Bahrain from 2007 to 2011, published an opinion piece on Fox News in which he accused Shabunin of “profiting from sweetheart deals and kickbacks.” Ereli was the vice chairman at Mercury Public Affairs since 2013. In 2011–2012, Mercury received $560,000 from the European Center for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based organization sympathetic to exiled ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and his political party, according to Reuters.
Political analyst Vitaliy Bala said the recent attacks show the government’s attempt to suppress anti-corruption activists.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oleg Sukhov contributed reporting to the story.
