The incumbent head of the agency was busted with consulting suspects on evading criminal responsibility for corrupt actions; he cannot be trusted, - Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Open source

U.S. Ambassador in Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch called on the Ukrainian authorities to fire Nazar Kholodnytsky who currently serves as the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. The U.S. diplomat said that during her speech at Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre in Kyiv on Tuesday.

'The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor should be changed for the sake of the integrity of anti-corruption institutions. The one busted with consulting the suspects on evading responsibility under charges with corruption... he cannot be trusted with dealing with these particular cases', she said.

At that, the Ambassador added that the investigation and court activities against the suspects should be taking place; if the guilt is proven, they should end up behind the bars, she said.

'For that to happen, all the elements of the anti-corruption architecture should be present, working effectively', Yovanovitch concluded.

In March 2018, the Ukrainian media spread information about Kholodnytsky's office being wiretapped. Later, it appeared that the Prosecutor's General Office probed into his activities, using the devices of NABU, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. The two agencies had a suspicion that Kholodnytsky made the preliminary investigation's results public - on purpose.

Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko asked the disciplinary committee to consider the option of firing Kholodnytsky. The committee, instead, merely reprimanded him.