ACC: Shabunin is in Kyiv, and he has been served a series of subpoenas for questioning

ACC: Shabunin is in Kyiv, and he has been served a series of subpoenas for questioning

Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, who had his premises searched by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) last week, is currently in Kyiv, according to the Anti-Corruption Action Center (ACC). He has received several summonses for questioning at the SBI.

"Currently, Vitaliy Shabunin is in Kyiv, and he has been served several summonses for questioning at the SBI, which he is obliged to attend. Therefore, he cannot return to his place of service at the moment," the ACC reported.

Meanwhile, according to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, the investigator has not yet filed a motion to impose a preventive measure on Shabunin. However, the activist’s defense demands the review of the legitimacy of the searches with the participation of lawyers and Shabunin himself. As noted by the ACC, the investigators grossly violated the law by conducting searches without a court decision.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center reminded of the violations by the SBI during the searches, in particular, the following:

• The investigators did not provide reasons for conducting searches without a court decision;
• Both at Shabunin’s house and at the unit in the Kharkiv region where he serves, the searches were organized in such a way that lawyers could not arrive in time to ensure the rights of the defendant were upheld;
• During the searches in the Kharkiv region, equipment and most items were seized without video recording;
• The investigators seized a number of items that are not related to the criminal proceedings;
• After the arrival of the lawyers and their attempts to document the process, the SBI threatened to seize the phones of the defenders themselves.