An ally of anti-corruption activist Shabunin has been identified among the lawmakers who supported a bill favoring corrupt officials, according to media reports.

Among the members of parliament who voted for the law that will allow corrupt officials who agree to a deal with investigators to avoid asset confiscation was former employee of the Anti-Corruption Center and long-time associate of Vitaliy Shabunin – Anastasia Radina, who supported this bill.

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The relevant amendments to the Criminal Code were recently adopted by the Verkhovna Rada, writes "Law and Business".

In particular, the provision in Article 77 of the Criminal Code that mandated the confiscation of property as an additional punishment for criminal or corruption offenses has been removed.

“It is noteworthy that Shabunin expressed outrage this morning over such voting... Clearly, the mentioned changes to the Criminal Code were made to protect corrupt officials from the confiscation of illicit assets. Therefore, the editorial team agrees with V. Shabunin that this has been done to appease corrupt individuals, and his associates facilitated this, in his words, 'betrayal of Europeans',” the publication notes.

Radina, who supported this bill, was the head of advocacy programs at the Anti-Corruption Center from 2016 to 2019. Subsequently, she was one of the leaders of the campaign to establish the High Anti-Corruption Court in Ukraine and is also an expert in tax legislation.