Prosecutor general withdraws request to detain Tatarov

The Prosecutor General’s Office decided to withdraw its
request submitted to the High Anti-Corruption Court to detain and set bail for
Oleh Tatarov, a deputy head in the President’s Office who is suspected by
investigators of bribery and falsifying evidence in an attempted cover up of a
criminal case. The decision was announced on Dec. 30 at a hearing of the High
Anti-Corruption Court, which is considered to be independent and had been
preparing to review the request. The court subsequently approved the request
for withdrawal, which the office made because “we can’t fully confirm that the
suspicion (of crimes) was substantiated,” said prosecutor Andriy Hrytsan, as
reported by the court’s website.

The decision came two days after the prosecutors
failed to show up for a Dec. 28 hearing at the same court, preventing it from
holding a hearing on detaining Tatarov. “This entire calamity of corruption is
the personal decision and responsibility of Zelensky,” said Vitaly Shabunin,
the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre NGO.

An anonymous source in the Prosecutor General’s Office
offered several more reasons for the request for detention being withdrawn, as
reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. They included Tatarov possibly
being a suspect in other crimes, the notice of suspicion being issued by an unauthorized
person, and possible procedural violations in gathering evidence.

The office stated that its prosecutors, as well as
investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), will assess the
evidence gathered by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and reach the
necessary procedural decisions. Recall, the same office caused the latest
scandal in the Tatarov case on Dec. 24 when it announced it is transferring his
case from the NABU, which is relatively independent, to the SBU, which is
controlled by the president. Zelensky said in an interview published on Dec. 25
on the focus.ua news site that he believes Tatarov is not guilty of wrongdoing
but he will have to prove his innocence.

Zenon Zawada: This latest
episode in the Tatarov saga perfectly fits the pattern of authorities, loyal to
the President’s Office, working to shield him from detention or criminal
prosecution. Not only is he valuable to pro-Russian forces as a high-ranking
official, but now he has become the latest symbol to rally those in the public
who are hostile to the EuroMaidan and all that it brought to Ukraine.

On Dec. 24, Tatarov claimed to be continuing to work
in his post, despite submitting his request for a leave of absence on Dec. 21
(which he was likely pressured to do by a presidential official to satisfy
Western demands). In doing so, he became the second high-ranking authority
defying a leave of absence, joining Oleksandr Tupytskiy, the chief justice of
the Constitutional Court.

These events are merely the latest evidence of the
overall atmosphere of chaos under the Zelensky administration, which is
increasingly being perceived as weak and ineffective by the public. Pro-Western
and pro-Russian forces are battling each other under a façade of normalcy.