Statement by editorial board of website Censor.NET regarding pressure from authorities on head of Anti-Corruption Action Centre, Vitalii Shabunin
The case against Vitalii Shabunin is completely invented by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies. To accuse a soldier of being sent on a temporary duty by his commander is an affront to justice, as there is no corpus delicti or object of the crime. Soldier Shabunin acted in accordance with the decision of his commander. A temporary duty cannot be fraudulent. The fictitious case against Shabunin is a manifestation of the corrupt dictatorship headed by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This case was obviously opened by the order of the President himself, otherwise, the SBI leaders who are committing "lawlessness" would not have dared to act with such a sense of impunity.
President Zelensky has dealt a direct blow to Ukrainian democracy, freedom of speech, and citizens' rights. In addition, he has also disgraced the status of a serviceman. We would like to remind you that Vitalii Shabunin voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and did not evade orders, unlike Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself, who evaded military commissariat summons four times.
The suspicion was not served by law enforcement officers. The suspicion was handed over by corrupt officials who want to hide the multi-billion-dollar embezzlement of the budget during the war.
The Ukrainian people are fighting the occupiers not for politicians, but for freedom, justice, and the rights of every Ukrainian.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has started to crack down on his opponents using the same methods that Viktor Yanukovych used to crack down on the democratic society and opponents. The same methods that Oleg Tatarov used under Yanukovych and is using now. If Zelenskyy continues to follow Yanukovych's path, he will undoubtedly come to the same results.
We demand maximum publicity and transparency in this falsified case. Its instigators must be held accountable for their actions.
As a reminder, 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 on it next week.
He also reported that on 3 June 2025, a regular meeting of the Verkhovna Rada was held, during which the Servant of the People faction supported several 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.
