“A landmark event took place in the evening at the Pechersk Court, November 5. In the case of Vitaly Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Center (CPC), his lawyers appealed to judge Kristina Konstantinova. The reason is frequent circumstances that testify to the judge’s bias and call into question the independence of her decisions. In particular, it is about the ambiguous judicial practice of the judge in relation to other public activists. “Especially the case of Kudrytskyi”, — write on: ua.news
A landmark event took place in the evening at the Pechersk Court, November 5. In the case of the head of the Anti-Corruption Center (CPC) Vitaly Shabunin, his lawyers filed a recusal Judge Kristina Konstantinova. The reason is frequent circumstances that testify to the judge’s bias and call into question the independence of her decisions. In particular, it is about the ambiguous judicial practice of the judge in relation to other public activists.
“Kudrytskyi’s case in particular calls into question your independence from the country’s political leadership,” suspect Shabunin supported the defense’s position.
We will remind, on October 29 of this year, the judge of the Pechersk Court, Kristina Konstantinova, took Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the former head of Ukrenergo, into custody despite the lack of evidence in the case
The motion to recuse was granted and the case was remanded for automatic distribution.
Commenting on the situation, Vitaliy Shabunin expressed hope for an objective consideration of the case: “There are not many people in the Pechersk Court to whom one can address “Your Honor” without insulting one’s soul. There are a few new judges who are very young, who haven’t had time to catch on so much, and there is at least hope for an objective review…”
The essence of the accusations of the SBI
This court case is a continuation of the criminal proceedings initiated by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) in July of this year. First, on July 11, the DBR announced Shabunin suspicion of fraud and evasion of military service. The investigation claimed that the activist, being mobilized in 2022, did not actually show up for duty for a long time, but received a monthly salary of over 50,000 hryvnias under the guise of business trips to civilian institutions (in particular, to the NAKC, where he worked on anti-corruption reforms).
Later, on August 13, Shabunin was handed a renewed suspicion of aiding Viktor Yushko, ex-commander of the 207th battalion of the TRO of Kyiv, in the evasion of his subordinates from military service. According to the version of the investigation, Shabunin was seconded to a state body, where he did not perform either military or civilian functions, illegally taking over state funds in the amount of more than 224,000 hryvnias. In addition, the SBI accused him of using a car imported as humanitarian aid for personal purposes.
Shabunin’s position
The CPC calls these accusations unfounded and falsified, treating the case as political persecution. After the searches in July, Vitaliy Shabunin publicly accused President Volodymyr Zelensky of “corrupt authoritarianism,” emphasizing that war is used to pressure civil society.
“We are talking about those five months when I was seconded to the NAZK. In the fall of 2022, winter of 2023, when there were no battles in the Kyiv region, my unit was stationed in the Kyiv region. What I am accused of: that I did nothing while I was at NAZK. And now, for “doing nothing at the NAZK”, where I was assigned, the prosecutor’s office is asking for 10 years in prison.”
Vitaly Shabunin also compared himself to the ex-commander of the Kyiv “Berkut” regiment, who was tried for concealing the crimes committed against the participants of the Revolution of Dignity on February 20, 2014.
“For your understanding, last week the commander of Berkutiv was imprisoned, in absentia, for 10 years, and the prosecutors are asking me for 10 years.”
We will remind that on October 17 Pechersk court continued again Shabunin has a preventive measure in the form of a personal commitment until November 2.
We will remind you, Shabunin noted who is not going to run away from the investigation, as the prosecution says.
On July 11, employees of the SBI informed the head of the Anti-corruption Center Vitaly Shabunin of the suspicion of evading military service and unauthorized use of a car intended for the Armed Forces.
