The General Prosecutorʼs Office of Lithuania has started an investigation against blogger Anatolii Sharii on suspicion of laundering criminal funds.
The Lithuanian portal 15min writes about it.
The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office informed the newspaper that the investigation began on August 2 under Article 216 of the Criminal Code of Lithuania (legalization of property obtained through crime). The case is being investigated by the Financial Crimes Investigation Service.
According to the portal, the investigation was started after receiving a statement from the russian lawyer, Mark Feigin. According to it, since 2012, as a resident of Lithuania, Sharii could conduct unregistered activities, receive undeclared income from unknown sources and not pay taxes.
- Anatolii Sharii is a former journalist who fled Ukraine in 2012 and received political asylum in Lithuania. Later, he started running a political blog on the YouTube channel. In the summer of 2019, Sharia, while abroad, announced the creation of a political party called "Shariiʼs Party". The party is officially headed by his wife Olha. During the period of martial law, the President, Volodymyr Zelensky, banned the activities of this party.
- Despite the asylum in Lithuania, according to the media, Sharii has been living in Spain for more than 10 years. In January 2022, Lithuania revoked Sharii residence permits.
- On February 16, 2021, the Security Service of Ukraine declared Sharii on the state wanted list. He is accused of treason and joint information operations against Ukraine with Russia.
- On May 5, Sharii was detained by Spanish law enforcement agencies. The court released Sharii on recognizance.
- At the same time, the former Prosecutor General, Iryna Venediktova, stated that Sharii extradition would last long enough — from 3-6 months to a year.