Equating corruption with high treason will help the Ukrainian authorities to put pressure on the opposition and cover up for "their own" people — Anti-Corruption Action Centre

Under the guise of equating corruption with high treason, the Office of the President of Ukraine will be able to imprison people with other political interests and acquit "their own" people of responsibility during martial law.

The Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC) NGO reported this.

On August 27, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Nataliia Moseichuk that he would propose to the parliament to equate corruption with high treason during martial law.

The punishment for high treason in Ukraine is up to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Sources in the Presidential Office told AntAC and ZN.UA that the draft law would allow top corruption cases investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau to be transferred to the Security Service of Ukraine.

The draft law was allegedly developed "under the supervision of the specialised deputy head of the Presidential Office." The AntAC assumes that this is most likely Oleh Tatarov. 

AntAC head Vitalii Shabunin wrote that by equating corruption with high treason, the Presidential Office wants to protect "their own" corrupt employees and get the tools to destroy opponents.

Shabunin reminded that Oleh Tatarov, the deputy head of the Presidential Office, was also a defendant in a corruption case. He was suspected of involvement in the misappropriation of funds from the National Guard of Ukraine. In 2020, the case was transferred from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to the SBU, where it was "abandoned," according to Shabunin. The charges against Tatarov were dropped in April 2022.