Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau alleges illegal surveillance by Security Service officer
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Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) reported on June 19 that the apartment of the head of one of its detective units was bugged with surveillance devices. The bureau said an employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was involved in the tapping.
NABU has launched a pre-trial criminal investigation into this incident, and the individuals behind it are still being identified, the agency noted in a Facebook post.
The post goes on to note that the upstairs neighbor of the detective said he had been "approached by individuals who identified themselves as law enforcement officers and assured him that a Russian spy was living in the flat below him."
One of those men has been identified by the bureau detectives as an officer of the SBU, the head of which is appointed by parliament on the president's recommendation.
The bureau mentions the detective whose house was wiretapped "is involved in investigating a number of high-profile criminal cases, in particular concerning corruption offenses in the customs sector and the activities of certain law enforcement officers and state-owned enterprises."
And there are several important corruption investigations into members of the Ukrainian authorities ongoing, for example, into Kyiv's financial intelligence chief, the former head of the Supreme Court, and, famously, Zelensky's former right-hand man, Andriy Yermak.
"Any attempts to unlawfully gather information about the bureau's staff are unacceptable and may jeopardize the independence and effectiveness of anti-corruption investigations," NABU wrote.
Ukraine took the next step on its EU accession process on June 15, the formal opening of a to-do list focused on the rule of law and democracy. Further strengthening the bureau and allowing the agency to carry out its work unobstructed is an important part of that work.
