Ukrainian MPs introduce bill equating punishment for corruption with treason

The Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, registered a draft law equating corruption with treason during the martial law period.

Rubryka reports, referring to MP Dmytro Razumkov and MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.

According to reports, the authors of this draft law are Dmytro Razumkov and his group in the parliament.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi recently announced that he will submit his draft law on corruption treason to the parliament.

"The Smart Policy team registered draft law No. 9659, by which we supplement the Criminal Code with Article 111-3 and equate the punishment for corruption with the punishment for treason during martial law. Corruptors will face 15 years behind bars or life with confiscation of property," said Razumkov.

The parliamentarian said that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecution, and the High Anti-Corruption Court, and not the Security Service of Ukraine, will deal with the cases.

He emphasized that through the Security Service of Ukraine, the current government will be able to put pressure on its political opponents and cover up its own corruption cases.

As Razumkov added, the bill provides that it will be possible to bring to justice every top official and middle-ranking official: member of the parliament, prime minister, government official, Office of the President, and the president.

Zhelezniak noted that Razumkov's bill on this issue is the first one registered in the Verkhovna Rada. According to the presidential regulations, an alternative from the people's deputies will be considered only within 14 days after the law.

Also, according to Zhelezniak, in Razumkov's draft law, bail was left as an alternative. According to Razumkov, the bail was left because its absence could become "a loophole for corrupt officials to destroy the case here (there is a decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine) and at the ECtHR."

Corruption scandals in Ukraine

After high-profile corruption scandals in the regional military commissions, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, initiated inspections of enlistment offices throughout the country.

Later, Zelensky approved the decision of the National Security Council, which was instructed to fire all the heads of the regional military committees. In some regions, the procedure for dismissing the heads of the enlistment offices has already begun.

A recent investigation uncovered that the Ministry of Defense allegedly purchased winter jackets for the military from the Turkish company Vector avia hava hava yukleteri, but at an inflated price. According to the investigation, the price of the jackets tripled during delivery.