The heads of NABU and SAPO, a member of parliament, journalists, and anti-corruption activists took part in an IWPR panel discussion on the fight against corruption and Operation “Midas.” Martina Boguslavets served as the moderator.
The speakers assessed whether the largest anti-corruption operation in Ukraine’s history could have taken place without the “cardboard protests.” According to all participants, if NABU and SAPO had been dismantled or stripped of their independence, the public would never have learned about the Mindich recordings.
“One of the defendants in a NABU case is eating Chinese food and recently demanded that a coffee machine be installed. Meanwhile, Ruslan’s father and Ruslan himself, the NABU detective who documented the Mindich case and is being held in a pre-trial detention center, are kept in filthy, cold conditions,” the NABU Director said, highlighting the stark difference in treatment between NABU case defendants and opponents of the authorities.
“They somehow decided that we live in a monarchy,” journalist Mykhailo Tkach remarked, adding that anti-corruption activists and institutions must continue their work.
“The law enforcement system must include more independent institutions,” SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko concluded.
The panelists’ overall conclusion: investigations must continue, as they drive institutional reform and prevent the system from being dismantled piece by piece.