Tatarov case removed from independent NABU investigation again

The latest scandal
involving Oleh Tatarov, a key official in the President’s Office, erupted on
Dec. 24 when the Prosecutor General’s Office announced it is transferring his
criminal case to the Security Service of Ukraine, which is controlled by the
president, from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which is relatively
independent. The same evening, the High Anti-Corruption Court (also
independent) was scheduled to review a request from independent prosecutors for
Tatarov’s detention under UAH 10 mln bail, the pravda.com.ua news site
reported. With its action, the Prosecutor General’s Office was satisfying a
ruling by the Pechersk District Court to transfer the jurisdiction of Tatarov’s
case. The same court had ruled on Dec. 14 to transfer the case to the State
Bureau of Investigations (DBR), which is controlled by the president. That
ruling was upheld by a Dec. 23 decision by the Supreme Court, as announced on
its Facebook page.

The rulings to transfer
the Tatarov criminal case to both the SBU and the DBR (both controlled by the president) are in
violation of the law, in the view of NABU. “The law forbids transferring cases,
in which crimes under NABU jurisdiction are under investigation, to other
pretrial investigative bodies. In this manner, the Prosecutor General’s Office
consciously reached an illegal decision, which grossly violates the
requirements of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine,” said a NABU statement
on Dec. 24.

Also as part of its
response, NABU opened a criminal case on Dec. 3 alleging the Prosecutor
General’s Office illegally interfered in the work of law enforcement agencies
when it decided on Dec. 1 to change the prosecutors handling the
criminal case alleging Tatarov’s involvement in
bribery, as
announced on Dec. 25 on the hromadske.ua news site by independent prosecutor
Maksym Hryshchuk. That decision was made on the eve of NABU officials issuing
Tatarov a notice of suspicion in that case, an action that was disrupted as a
result. Tatarov told reporters on Dec. 24 that he continues to remain active in
his position as a deputy head in the President’s Office, despite submitting a leave of absence
request on Dec. 21.

As his response to
the Tatarov case, President Zelensky implied in remarks on Dec. 25 that his
prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, has full autonomy to make decisions on
various criminal cases. In the interview with the focus.ua news site, Zelensky
said he doesn’t have the right to ask Venediktova about her actions on various
criminal cases, including those involving former President Poroshenko. “I don’t
have the right to talk to her that way. She knows herself that she is supposed
to imprison all criminals. That’s her task. Though understand that she doesn’t
have all the abilities,” he said.

Zenon Zawada: It’s amusing to see how a single
persona is at the center of such an intense political battle between
pro-Russian and pro-Western forces in Ukraine. It’s now apparent that Tatarov
has some very influential backers among Ukraine’s pro-Russian forces, among them
likely to be Andriy Portnov, the lawyer for the Yanukovych family. We can’t
rule out his possible ties to officials with the Opposition Platform party as
well. And they have made clear, through their allies in law enforcement
officials like Venediktova, that they are desperate to keep him in place. And
we dismiss any notion that Venediktova is making any decision on any major
criminal case without approval from Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s righthand man
and Tatarov’s direct boss.
We expect the Tatarov saga to drag on indefinitely, which will be useful for
the Zelensky administration in distracting the public, as well as rallying
support from the pro-Russian electorate.

The fact that Zelensky is allowing this battle to occur is further
confirmation that he is not a pro-Western politician, but neither can he be
characterized as pro-Russian or even pro-Ukrainian. His politics can be
essentially described as opportunism, playing all the major powers off of each
other to his advantage so that he can stay in power and rent his services as
president to the highest bidder. Sometimes the highest bidder is the Kremlin,
while other times it’s the IMF or an oligarch. So long as the country doesn’t
fall apart from a particular policy, Zelensky is ready to accommodate anyone
without any consistency.