Prosecutor General's Office investigates how former head Kravchenko arranged his own trip abroad

The Prosecutor General's Office is conducting an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko's official trip abroad.

Source: Mariana Haiovska, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "On 22 September, acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalskyi ordered an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the organisation and conduct of former prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko's official trip abroad.

The investigation is examining whether the established procedures for arranging and undertaking the official trip were followed, as well as the circumstances that may have contributed to possible violations."

Details: Haiovska added that appropriate decisions would be taken following the internal investigation if there were grounds to do so.

Background:

• On 7 September, 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 call centres, Ruslan Kravchenko submitted his resignation as prosecutor general.
• On 14 September, however, he said that he had signed a notice of suspicion against NABU Director Semen Kryvonos. He also accused NABU and SAPO of seizing case files concerning investigations into their employees during searches conducted as part of Operation Carthage in order to prevent procedural decisions from being taken in those cases.
• Ukrainska Pravda sources in law enforcement agencies reported that Kravchenko left Ukraine on the night of 13-14 September.
• Kravchenko also issued a statement saying that he had gone on an official trip. According to an order signed by Kravchenko himself, he travelled to Paris for five days, purportedly "to participate in PACE hearings concerning Ukrainian children". However, the agenda for the PACE-sponsored hearings did not list Kravchenko among the participants in the discussion.
• Kravchenko did not return to Ukraine after the official trip.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on parliament to urgently approve Kravchenko's resignation as prosecutor general, which MPs subsequently did.

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