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MAJOR protests have started to sweep across Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a controversial corruption bill.
Critics fear the new law may weaken the country’s anti-corruption bodies by stripping the two main organisations in the embattled nation of their independence.
Zelensky addressed the criticism he has faced in recent days but assured his fellow country men and women that both agencies would still “work” as usual.
He warned that the bill needed to be passed in order to clear the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of “Russian influence”.
The offices of the two agencies were raided by Ukraine’s security services on Monday after infiltration allegations from Moscow emerged.
All corruption cases in Ukraine will now placed under the control of the prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko.
Zelensky says this will allow criminal proceedings, sometimes worth in the billions, to be investigated quicker.
He claims that the current anti-corruption infrastructure often allows for important cases to be left “lying dormant” for years.
The President added that the prosecutor general would ensure “the inevitability of punishment” for those who broke the law.
But many civilians strongly disagreed with his beliefs saying the bill now gives Zelensky ultimate power over independent bodies.
After the bill passed, thousands of people came together in the capitla of Kyiv to take part in the biggest anti-government protest since the start of Russia‘s barbaric invasion in February 2022.
Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a war veteran, is said to have first rallied Kyiv residents on Tuesday.
He urged people to gather at the square near the Ivan Franko Theatre due to it being “the closest viable spot to the President’s Office”.
He announced plans on social media as he said: “Time is not on our side.
“We must take to the streets tonight and urge Zelensky to prevent a return to the dark days of Yanukovych. See you this evening!”
Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa also saw demonstrations overnight.
The protests remained peaceful throughout despite an increased police presence across Ukraine.
Many took homemade placards with messages directed towards the government.
One read: “We chose Europe, not autocracy.”
Another said: “My father did not die for this.”
Kyiv mayor and former world heavyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko, was among the protesters.
He has clashed with Zelensky on dozens of occasions since becoming mayor as he told reporters on the ground: “Sapo and Nabu must remain independent institutions.”
The issue is due to continue to rage on for some time after the Ukrainian parliament voted for the law on July 22.
It was swiftly approved by the speaker shortly afterwards.
The heads of NABU and SAPO quickly implored President Zelensky to go back on the decree.
The issue of anti-corruption independence in Ukraine has also branched out across Europe in the past 24 hours.
Several G7 ambassadors voiced their concerns over the bill.
The European Union also warned against Ukraine’s making any hasty judgements.
What are Zelensky’s controversial reforms?
PRESIDENT Volodymyr Zelensky has signed into law a new bill surrounding the independence of Ukraine’s two key anti-corruption institutions.
The bill was passed with the support of 263 lawmakers, with 13 voting against it and 13 abstaining.
The new law now brings the independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office under the lead of the prosecutor general of Ukraine, Ruslan Kravchenko.
Ruslan is now able to transfer cases from the agencies and reassign prosecutors.
Zelensky believes the change will speed up the process of finalising cases as well as stamp out any alleged Russian influence.
But the head of NABU says the bill will “destroy” Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure.
