Key facts
- The November 4 ruling requires Kovalskyi to register the allegations, which AntAC said removes a procedural obstacle to a pre-trial investigation.
- AntAC lawyer Tetiana Shevchuk said Ukrainian law gives the prosecutor general exclusive authority to register alleged crimes involving members of parliament.
- Shevchuk said AntAC was in no way declaring Arakhamia guilty.
- Arakhamia told the Kyiv Independent he is not involved in anything not related to de-escalating the war or passing bills needed for financial assistance.
- Kovalskyi told reporters in early November that he had never met with Arakhamia.
- Shevchuk said AntAC will pursue further action, including disciplinary measures, if Kovalskyi does not comply.
Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court on November 4 ordered Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalskyi to open a case into alleged corruption involving David Arakhamia, head of President Volodymyr Zelensky's parliamentary group, following a complaint by the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), the Kyiv Independent reported.
AntAC, an independent watchdog, filed a complaint with Kovalskyi in October asking him to investigate Arakhamia's possible involvement in buying votes in parliament. The complaint cited a case in which lawmakers may have received cash in exchange for their votes, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU). Five lawmakers from Zelensky's Servant of the People party were charged in that case in late December, including Yurii Kisel, head of the parliamentary transport committee and one of Arakhamia's deputies. Searches were also conducted at the premises of Arakhamia's aide, a law enforcement source told the Kyiv Independent.
AntAC said on October 26 that the Prosecutor General's Office had refused to register the complaint, saying the circumstances were already under investigation in another criminal case. Tetiana Shevchuk, a lawyer at AntAC, told the Kyiv Independent on November 5 that the acting prosecutor general's approval was necessary for NABU to investigate Arakhamia, as Ukrainian law gives the prosecutor general exclusive authority to register alleged crimes involving members of parliament. Shevchuk said AntAC was in no way declaring Arakhamia guilty.
The November 4 ruling requires Kovalskyi to register the allegations, removing a procedural obstacle to a pre-trial investigation into Arakhamia, AntAC said. Shevchuk said that if Kovalskyi does not comply, AntAC will pursue further action, including disciplinary measures against the acting prosecutor general. The watchdog said the Prosecutor General's Office had also refused to open a case against Arakhamia in February, following a complaint by another anti-corruption NGO, Mezha.
Asked whether Arakhamia is under investigation, Oleksandr Klymenko, chief of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, said in August that anti-corruption agencies were constrained in investigating lawmakers because they had to obtain the prosecutor general's approval. Kovalskyi told reporters in early November that he had never met with Arakhamia.
When asked about the accusations, Arakhamia told the Kyiv Independent on November 5 that he had not had time to look into the matter. He said he was not involved in anything that is not related to the possibility of de-escalating the war or passing bills necessary to secure financial assistance for the country.