Protests in Ukraine as Zelenskyy signs bill curbing anticorruption agencies | Civil Rights News

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a controversial bill that hands sweeping authority to Ukraine’s prosecutor general over the country’s independent anticorruption agencies.

This triggered the largest antigovernment protests on Tuesday since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. More protests are expected Wednesday.

The new legislation, now law, gives the prosecutor general power to control and reassign investigations led by the National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

NABU and SAPO are two key institutions that have long symbolised Ukraine’s post-Euromaidan commitment to rooting out high-level corruption. Critics say the move strips these agencies of their independence and risks turning them into political tools.

Protests erupted in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Odesa, with demonstrators holding signs reading “Veto the law” and “We chose Europe, not autocracy.”

Many saw the legislation as a betrayal of Ukraine’s decade-long push towards democratic governance, transparency, and European Union membership.

Just one day prior, Ukraine’s domestic security agency arrested two NABU officials on suspicion of Russian links and searched other employees.

Zelenskyy, in his Wednesday address, cited these incidents to justify the reform, arguing the agencies had been infiltrated and that cases involving billions of dollars had been stagnant.

“There is no rational explanation for why criminal proceedings worth billions have been hanging for years,” he said.

But watchdogs and international observers see a different danger.

Transparency International Ukraine warned that the law dismantles critical safeguards, while the EU’s enlargement commissioner, Marta Kos, called it “a serious step back”.

The EU, G7 ambassadors, and other Western backers emphasised that NABU and SAPO’s independence is a prerequisite for financial aid and EU accession.

Despite Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka’s assurances that “all core functions remain intact,” disillusionment is growing.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s former foreign minister, declared it “a bad day for Ukraine”, underscoring the stark choice Zelenskyy faces: Stand with the people – or risk losing their trust, along with Western support.