Sacked prosecutor general Kravchenko, who left Ukraine, submits resignation from prosecution service

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO, Alona Mazurenko - 21 September, 21:35

Ruslan Kravchenko. Photo: Kravchenko on social media

Ukraine's former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation from the prosecution service. His resignation was accepted, and Kravchenko was dismissed from the prosecution service on 21 September.

Source: Mariana Haiovska, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General's Office, in a comment to journalists

Quote: "Today [21 September – ed.], Kravchenko submitted his resignation from the prosecution service…

After being dismissed as prosecutor general, he continued to hold the status of a prosecutor at the Prosecutor General's Office in accordance with the Law of Ukraine 'On the Prosecutor's Office'.

After his official trip ended, Ruslan Kravchenko, as a prosecutor at the Prosecutor General's Office, did not begin performing his official duties.

Under the circumstances, the resignation he submitted provides a legal basis to dismiss him from the prosecution service as quickly as possible."

Details: On Monday, the acting prosecutor general signed the relevant order dismissing Ruslan Kravchenko.

According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, as of 21 September, Kravchenko had not crossed Ukraine's border into the country.

The Prosecutor General's Office also noted that other forms of dismissal would have required a lengthy procedure before the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors, while Kravchenko would formally have remained a prosecutor at the Prosecutor General's Office during that time. The office therefore decided to act on his resignation.

Background:

On 7 September, Kravchenko submitted his resignation as prosecutor general amid an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) into the alleged "protection" of scam call centres.
On 14 September, he said he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU director Semen Kryvonos and accused NABU and SAPO of seizing materials from criminal proceedings against employees of the anti-corruption agencies in the course of searches conducted as part of Operation Carthage.
According to Ukrainska Pravda sources in law enforcement, Kravchenko left Ukraine in an official car on the night of 13-14 September. He said in a statement that he had left to go on an official trip. According to an order by the prosecutor general dated 13 September, a copy of which was seen by Ukrainska Pravda, Kravchenko left for Paris for five days "to take part in PACE hearings on Ukrainian children". However, he was not listed among the speakers on the event agenda.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to parliament to support Kravchenko's dismissal as prosecutor general.
On 14 September, Zelenskyy signed a decree suspending Kravchenko as prosecutor general. Later, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) backed the dismissal of Kravchenko as prosecutor general.
Kravchenko, whose official trip abroad ended on 18 September, had not returned to work as of 21 September.

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