Defenders of anti-corruption activist Vitaliy Shabunin have filed a complaint with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). All because of the disclosure in court of his place of service.
This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC).
"The prosecutors announced Vitaliyʼs place of service — the name of the unit and the village — publicly in the courtroom. They also emphasized that his unit may from time to time perform tasks at the frontline," the report says.
They added that the text of the suspicion itself, with all of Shabuninʼs personal data, was published in Telegram channels even before the suspicion was announced in the courtroom.
The court ordered Shabunin to urgently leave Kyiv for a village in the Chuhuiv region where he is serving. ACC believes that the Russians will purposefully try to physically eliminate the activist in order to increase internal hostility in the country.
"Vitaliyʼs lawyers are filing a statement with the SBU demanding that it investigate crimes of disclosing information from criminal proceedings about the location and nature of Sergeant Shabuninʼs service," ACC added.
Shabuninʼs case
On July 11, Vitaliy Shabunin was reported on suspicion of evading military service and fraud. According to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), after mobilization in 2022, the man did not appear at his place of service for a long time and, under the guise of business trips, was in civilian institutions that are not part of the Defense Forces. Despite his absence from the military unit, Shabunin received a monthly allowance of more than UAH 50 thousand, the State Bureau of Investigation said. They added that the defendant illegally used an SUV that was imported into Ukraine as humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
A few hours before the announcement of the suspicion, law enforcement officers conducted searches at Shabuninʼs place of work in the Chuhuiv district of the Kharkiv region, as well as at his home. The head of the Central Criminal Investigation Commission himself, in response to the suspicion and searches, stated that President Volodymyr Zelensky is moving towards corrupt authoritarianism.
On July 15, the Pechersk District Court chose a preventive measure for Shabunin in the form of a personal bond until August 20.
On July 16, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) searched the apartment of the deceased pilot Andriy "Juice" Pilshchikov — Shabunin had previously lived in this apartment.
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