Seven prosecutors could be dismissed after anti-corruption Operation Carthage, Ukraine's general prosecutor says

Seven prosecutors from various departments of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG) are to be referred to the Prosecutors' Qualification and Disciplinary Commission so that it can decide whether they should be dismissed in the wake of a corruption scandal and investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).

Source: Ukraine's Prosecutor General, Ruslan Kravchenko, at a press conference on 7 September

Details: Kravchenko said the OPG is currently carrying out checks into both civil servants and prosecutors who either joined the office on the recommendation of Serhii Kropyva, the main suspect in the Operation Carthage investigation, or who themselves feature in the investigation.

Quote: "For civil servants there's a simpler dismissal procedure. Prosecutors can only be removed from their post by a decision of the Prosecutors' Qualification and Disciplinary Commission, so we're now preparing a submission to the commission. We're talking about seven prosecutors."

More details: Kravchenko added that the OPG has already issued an order for mass polygraph testing of staff.

In addition, checks will be carried out into the possible involvement of OPG staff in unlawful actions. Decisions as to whether they can remain at the Prosecutor General's Office will be based on the results of these checks.

Background:

• On 5 September, NABU and SAPO announced that they had uncovered a criminal organisation which investigators said was headed by a senior official at an OPG department. Members of the organisation are suspected of regularly receiving bribes from scam call centres and laundering the proceeds. The official in question is Serhii Kropyva, deputy head of the International Legal Cooperation Department at the Prosecutor General's Office.
• Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko has denied any involvement in the possible "protection" of illegal call centres and ordered inspections at the OPG, as well as polygraph tests for staff who work in departments linked to such cases

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