The Kazakh authorities on Jan. 8 arrested an influential ally of ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev as an uprising continued in the country. The National Security Committee said that Karim Masimov, the committee’s now-dismissed head, had been arrested on treason charges amid violent protests, one of the aims of which is
Human rights activists have accused the State Security Service (SBU) of launching a crackdown on Kazakh opposition activists in Ukraine. Lyudmyla Kozlovska, a human rights activist at the Open Dialogue Foundation, wrote on Facebook that several men in plainclothes and claiming to be SBU agents visited and beat up Zamanbek
Kazakh government forces appear to have gained the upper hand in their standoff with protesters, but the uprising in the country continued on Jan. 7. According to Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry, 26 armed protesters and 18 government troops had been killed during clashes nationwide since the beginning of the uprising.
Kyiv’s Pechersk Court issued a ruling on Jan. 6 to seize ex-President Petro Poroshenko’s assets. Poroshenko was charged with treason on Dec. 20. He is accused of being involved in supplying coal to Ukrainian state-owned enterprises from Russian-occupied areas in the Donbas in 2014-2015. Poroshenko has denied wrongdoing
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 31 appointed Oleksiy Sukhachov as the head of the State Investigation Bureau, one of the main law enforcement agencies, for five years. The decision is highly controversial. Sukhachov, a loyalist of the Zelensky administration, was appointed by the president as the acting chief of the
This year has seen a lot of political strife and corruption scandals even by low Ukrainian standards. The Kyiv Independent lists the 10 most prominent events that defined the turbulent politics of 2021: Zelensky’s standoff with oligarchs In November President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law an “anti-oligarch” bill that
The U.S. government has agreed to give $20 million to strengthen Ukraine’s border with Russia and Belarus, Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service said on Dec. 28. The news comes against a backdrop of looming Russian aggression. Since November, Ukrainian and Western intelligence have warned of a drastic
A selection panel failed to nominate a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor for the second time on Dec. 24, triggering indignation among civil society. Kateryna Koval, head of the panel, demanded that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other state agencies conduct a second background check on Oleksandr Klymenko, who
Prosecutors are seeking to arrest ex-President Petro Poroshenko who's been charged with high treason. They've asked for a bail of Hr 1 billion ($37 million), according to several media reports published on Dec. 24, citing the Prosecutor General’s Office. Ukrinform, Ukrainska Pravda and other Ukrainian media also reported, citing
The Supreme Court threw out a Hr 150,000 ($5,500) libel lawsuit filed by Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova against online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda and the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Dec. 21, citing the ruling. Kyiv’s Pechersk District Court and the Kyiv Court of Appeal had
A selection panel failed to appoint a new chief anti-corruption prosecutor at what was supposed to be its final meeting on Dec. 21. Panel members blamed a recent decision by a tainted court led by a judge suspected of corruption. What anti-corruption activists see as the latest act of sabotage
On Dec. 9, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Oleksandr Tupytsky, head of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, and Andriy Portnov, ex-deputy chief of staff for pro-Kremlin ex-President Viktor Yanukovych. Both stand accused of corruption and obstructing reforms. That was surely a great push for Ukrainian reforms and a massive blow
The World Bank on Dec. 17 approved a 300 million euro loan to Ukraine to support reforms and help mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Economic Recovery Development Policy Loan aims to support the de-monopolization of the economy, strengthen anti-corruption institutions, improve land and credit markets, including access
The State Investigation Bureau tried to hand a summons to ex-President Petro Poroshenko in a case into treason and aiding terrorist groups in Russian-occupied areas of the Donbas. The bureau said detectives had attempted to give him the summons in front of the Verkhovna Rada on Dec. 17 but he
Artem Sytnyk, head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), was appointed in 2015 to achieve a breakthrough in Ukraine’s long fight against elite corruption. Sytnyk’s term expires in April 2022, which means that the time has come to assess the achievements of his tenure. The Kyiv
Yuriy Zontov, the brother of Ukraine’s most notorious judge, has been released from detention on Hr 7.6 million ($280,000) bail, the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office said on Dec. 15. Zontov is a former employee of the Foreign Intelligence Service. His brother is Pavlo Vovk, widely seen as
A Belarusian court on Dec. 14 sentenced opposition leader and popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky to 18 years in a high-security prison. Five other suspects in the Tikhanovsky case were jailed for 14 to 16 years. The verdict is a new low in what has been described as the biggest wave
Western diplomats urged Ukraine to complete key anti-corruption and judicial reforms in a quick, fair and transparent way at the “Seven Years of Anti-Corruption Reforms” conference in Kyiv on Dec. 9. The event was co-hosted by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP)
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Oleksandr Tupytskyi, chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and Andriy Portnov, a former ally of pro-Kremlin Ex-President Viktor Yanukovych, on Dec. 9. Both were accused of engaging in corrupt practices including bribery, illicit influence over reforms and the judiciary, and misappropriation of assets.
The ambassadors of European Union countries on Dec. 8 adopted sanctions against the Wagner Group, a Kremlin-backed military contractor, Rikard Jozwiak, an editor at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, wrote on Twitter. The sanctions apply to individuals who have fought in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya. Wagner mercenaries have been used
The selection of an anti-corruption prosecutor has started to move forward following months of delay. On Dec. 7, the selection panel announced its scores for the written test of two finalists. Oleksandr Klymenko, a detective of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), scored higher than prosecutor Andriy Synyuk. Klymenko scored 18
Ukraine has had mixed results with its rule of law reforms in recent weeks. On the one hand, a crucial judicial reform appears to be moving forward after years of delay. On the other hand, the success of that reform is far from guaranteed. Moreover, President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said late on Dec. 2 she would step up more than 200 criminal cases against “the owner of several well-known television channels, coal companies, and energy companies.” Although Venediktova did not refer to him by name, this appeared to be a veiled reference to oligarch Rinat
The Group of Seven (G7) most industrialized nations on Dec. 2 urged Ukraine not to delay the selection of the chief anti-corruption prosecutor. The joint statement followed months of unexplained delays in convening the panel that will choose the prosecutor. Anti-corruption watchdogs have blamed disruptions from the President’s Office
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Dec. 1 appointed 28 judges nominated by the High Council of Justice, the judiciary’s highest governing body. The appointments formally seek to resolve the problem of a shortage of judges. However, anti-corruption and legal watchdogs have lambasted the move because most of the judges have
Several thousand protesters gathered in central Kyiv on the evening of Dec. 1 to demand President Volodymyr Zelensky’s resignation over what they see as his concessions to the Kremlin. The protesters zeroed in on Zelensky’s statement earlier the same day that he’s not afraid of direct negotiations
The court’s Nov. 30 decision may alleviate concerns by judicial watchdogs and Western experts about the court’s legitimacy. But President Volodymyr Zelensky said he’s concerned by the delay and sees it as an attempt to promote discredited judges’ interests. The Constitutional Court has been in crisis for
Any aggression from Russia against Ukraine would trigger “serious consequences,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Nov. 30. Blinken told a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Riga that Russia is combining military movements along Ukraine’s border with internal efforts to destabilize the country. NATO Secretary-General
Why is the reform needed? Ukraine’s judiciary remains corrupt, dysfunctional and politicized. Its governing bodies — the High Council of Justice and the High Qualification Commission — are discredited because they have protected tainted judges. The previous High Qualification Commission was disbanded in 2019 by a law introduced by President Volodymyr
Zelensky said he had appointed Oksana Hryshchuk and Oleksandr Petryshyn as Constitutional Court judges. They are supposed to replace Constitutional Court chairman Oleksandr Tupytsky and judge Oleksandr Kasminin. Tupytsky has been charged with bribing a witness, and both Tupytsky and Kasminin were later fired by Zelensky as a “threat to
Civil society groups on Nov. 25 urged President Volodymyr Zelensky not to appoint judges who do not meet ethics and integrity standards. The groups include DEJURE, the Anti-Corruption Action Center, AutoMaidan and others. On Nov. 18, the High Council of Justice, the judiciary’s main governing body, nominated 135 candidates
President Volodymyr Zelensky again broke his election year promise to not use state residences, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Nov. 24. Zelensky attended the birthday party of his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, at the presidential residence Synyiohora in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Both reportedly flew there on Nov. 19 and returned to
