In Ukraine, Some Signs Of Progress In Uphill Battle Against Corruption
Ukraine is considered one of the world's most corrupt countries. But activists are encouraged by the ongoing case against Roman Nasirov, the country's tax chief, who is accused of embezzlement.
Kiev's Solomyansky District Court is a four-story pink building squeezed between an Orthodox church with golden domes and the soaring office tower of Ukraine's tax service.
"It's a very symbolic place," said Maxim Eristavi, a journalist and activist, as he returned to the site of a dramatic standoff that took place in early March.
Inside the court, a judge was preparing to rule on extending the pre-trial detention, the suspended head of Ukraine's State Fiscal Service. Afraid that Nasirov would be allowed to escape the country's first major graft trial, Eristavi and other protestors blocked the narrow access ways to the courthouse for 48 hours straight.
