Zelenskyy is taking confident steps toward corrupt authoritarianism. They offer to lock me up for 5-10 years - Shabunin
Taking advantage of the war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is taking the first but confident steps towards corrupt authoritarianism.
This was stated by the head of the AntAC Vitalii Shabunin, Censor.NET reports, citing Shabunin's post posted by the AntAC team.
According to him, this refers, in particular, to the draft law of the "servants" on amnesty for corruption in arms procurement.
"And although society has shot down this particular project, Zelenskyy is already preparing a new one: this time for the SSU and the Prosecutor General, although for a somewhat narrower circle of 'his own'.
Or another example: the BES director's demonstrative failure to appoint the winner of the competition. Zelenskyy's Cabinet of Ministers, without hiding, violated a direct and obvious rule of law," he said.
According to Shabunin, for the "servants" the word of their king is more important than Article 19 of the Constitution on the authorities acting only within the limits and in the manner prescribed by law.
"Criminal proceedings against me and other critics or whistleblowers are undoubtedly a smaller step towards Zelensky's corrupt authoritarianism. To catch up. To intimidate. To show everyone that if they want to, they can do anything to anyone.
The search without a court order at the PPD of the unit, to which I had arrived only the day before, began at 2 p.m. on Friday and ended at 5 a.m. on Saturday.
In the middle of the search, I was handed a suspicion, according to which Zelenskyy's oprichniki from the SBI and the prosecutor's office propose to lock me up for 5-10 years for receiving an official salary of UAH 225 thousand for six months (of which 40 thousand are mandatory taxes and fees)," Shabunin adds.
"A separate task of this 15-hour action was to manipulate my cell phone. As soon as the SBI investigative team flew into the room, an SSU officer jumped out with my phone in his hands.
After two hours of searching, someone shouted from the street: "Oh, there's a phone lying under the doorstep!" And the SBI operative carried the unlocked phone into the room in his hands. All this beauty was recorded on investigative cameras.
So I'm waiting for the fantastic stories of Zelenskyy's media staff. Procedurally, I have no idea how such a circus can be legalized (even in the Pechersk court)," the activist continues.
"I am terribly sorry to my wife and children, who returned to Ukraine from the U.S. in the spring of 2023. I am proud of the AntAC team, which acted in a demonstrably calm and balanced manner. They were even able to organize lawyers for me from Chuhuiv at night. I am also sincerely grateful for the support of a whole bunch of incredible people.
Especially those who say "I don't support Shabunin, but...". We may have different views, but we feel the stench of corrupt authoritarianism equally well," Shabunin summarizes.
Earlier it was reported that the State Bureau of Investigation is conducting a search of the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Vitaliy Shabunin at his place of service in Chuhuiv district of Kharkiv region and at home.
To recap, the head of the AntAC said that MPs from the Servant of the People faction had registered draft law No. 13271-1, which would allow officials to avoid punishment for corruption after dismissal. They plan to vote for it next week.
He also reported that on June 3, 2025, a regular meeting of the Verkhovna Rada was held, during which the Servant of the People faction supported a number of scandalous bills.
In February 2025, Shabunin announced that he was being transferred from Kyiv to the Kharkiv region. He attributed this to his criticism of the government.
