By KYIV. Nov 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The work of NABU and SAPO is more important than ever, you need to make sure that the two organizations have the right resources to be able to do their job, British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons has said.
"They’ve never been more important. We’ve long been huge supporters of NABU investigators and SAP prosecutors. Their job is as important as ever. There is corruption in wartime justice as there is in peacetime, and that needs tackling in wartime just as it does in peacetime. It’s dangerous to suspend that kind of work," Simmons said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The ambassador noted the need for NABU investigators to continue to do important work and for there to be enough SAPO prosecutors, despite the fact that some of them went to defend the country.
"The thing that concerns me right now about NABU and SAPO is that they both have specialists who have gone off to fight. And of course, some of them have lost their lives, which is like all loss of life incredibly sad… But the truth is the country needs defence in more ways than one. And it’s going to be really important that NABU investigators are enabled to do the important work that they do, and that there are enough SAP prosecutors to be able to proceed with the caseload, because it’s an important thing in wartime to keep governance strong," Simmons said.
The ambassador said she has such concerns, but she really understands the delicacy of this balance.
"It’s not for me to be telling the country who goes to fight and who doesn’t. It’s more generally about making sure that the two organisations are properly resourced to be able to do their job. That hasn’t changed for me at all. That continues for me to be a really important part of Ukraine’s future," Simmons said.
