Zelenskyy has "ultimately become the president of police, venal prosecutors, State Bureau of Investigation officials and corrupt SSU personnel in rear," – Shabunin on planting of drugs on Shyrshyn
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy bears responsibility for the return of "repressive practices from the Yanukovych era", particularly in the case involving the planted drugs linked to Oleksandr Shyrshyn, the former commander of the 47th SMB.
This was stated on Facebook by Vitalii Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, as reported by Censor.NET.
"I don’t think the president personally gave the order to plant drugs on Shyrshyn. However, it is Zelenskyy who is responsible for the fact that such police practices from the Yanukovych era have returned," Shabunin emphasises.
Why are the security forces granted the ‘right’ to abuse their power?
In his view, if the president uses the security forces against those he dislikes (NABU/SAPO, the opposition, critics, etc. – V.Sh.), then as payment for this, the security forces are granted the ‘right’ to abuse their powers for their own benefit.
"That’s exactly how it works. If, on the president’s orders, the security forces go after, say, NABU or the SAPO, then those very same security forces are granted the right by the president to ‘make money’ and ‘provide a service’ – that is, to harass ‘businessmen’ or ‘small fry’. And this is precisely what explains why Zelenskyy is so frenziedly defending both the State Bureau of Investigation and the Prosecutor General’s Office from a purge. Even at the cost of his approval ratings, European funding and the prospect of EU accession. For it is already clear that, to consolidate his power (which is slipping away), the President has placed his faith in loyal security forces rather than in the scales of justice and other abstract values. There will be more and more cases like those involving Magamedrasulov, Kudrytskyi, Shyrshyn and so on. And this will not be a coincidence. It is the natural result of the corrupt system of power built by the current president," adds Shabunin.
He also emphasises that, in his seventh year in office, Zelenskyy "has finally become the president of police, venal prosecutors, State Bureau of Investigation officials, Pecherskyi judges, and corrupt SSU personnel in the rear".
The need for changes to the security apparatus during the war
Separately, the head of the AntAC emphasises that we must ‘fix’ all this before the end of the war.
"All this rubbish has no right to exist in a state for whose existence the best of us are dying every day," he concludes.
What led up to it
- We would like to remind you that the day before, the former commander of the 47th SMB, Oleksandr Shyrshyn, stated that drugs had been planted in his car.
- Subsequently, law enforcement authorities provided official information regarding the stopping of a car driven by the former commander of the ‘Magura’ battalion of the 47th SMB, Oleksandr Shyrshyn.
- Later, the acting head of the National Police, Maksym Tsutskiridze, stated that operational information from the Military Law Enforcement Service regarding the former commander of the 47th SMB’s "Magura" battalion, Oleksandr Shyrshyn, would be verified. This includes how this information came to be in the possession of the Military Law Enforcement Service.
Background
- Earlier, Censor.NET reported that Shyrshyn, the battalion commander of the 47th SMB "Magura", had submitted a request for discharge due to the command’s "idiotic tasks".
- For his part, Yurii Butusov, Editor-in-Chief of Censor.NET, commenting on Shyrshyn’s actions, noted that the statement by Shyrshyn, commander of the 47th SMB, requires an official response from the General Staff and the command. Further actions in the Kursk region should only be planned following an after-action review.
- It was subsequently reported that, on the orders of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a working group had been set up to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances outlined in the social media post by the commander of a unit of the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
- The working group, which investigated the situation published on social media by ‘Magura’ Shyrshyn, the battalion commander, regarding a series of ineffective decisions on the front line, found Shyrshyn himself to be undisciplined.
- Subsequently, the court overturned the reprimand issued to Shyrshyn.
