The key facts
- Serhii Duka arrested for 60 days, bail set at 65 million hryvnias instead of the requested 100 million
- The suspect calls the prosecution revenge by NABU and says he has no money for bail
- SBU head Oleksandr Poklad earlier dismissed two senior officials after they appeared in the 'Carthage' materials
SBU general arrested in the 'Carthage' case
Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court has placed former senior Security Service of Ukraine official Serhii Duka in custody for 60 days. The 'Carthage' case concerns alleged protection of illegal business by law enforcement officials. The arrest was reported by Strana.ua citing the court decision.
Conditions of detention and the parties' positions
The court set the possibility of release on bail at 65 million hryvnias. The prosecutor from the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office insisted on stricter conditions and requested bail of 100 million hryvnias, but the court set a lower amount. Duka himself assured that he is ready to cooperate with the investigation and does not intend to leave Ukraine, but stressed that he does not have the money to post bail in the amount requested by the prosecution. He called the criminal prosecution revenge on the part of the leadership of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
Context: dismissals at the SBU and the scale of the investigation
Earlier, SBU head Oleksandr Poklad dismissed two senior officials of the agency after they appeared in the materials of the 'Carthage' investigation. According to him, he discussed the progress of the investigation with the leadership of NABU and SAP, the security service is assisting the investigative actions and maintaining contacts with foreign partners, since certain episodes of the case may involve other states. It was also reported that about 70 searches were being conducted in Ukraine in the case of the protection of call centers.
