Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center’s executive board and a prominent anti-corruption activist, now faces up to five years in prison instead of three as prosecutors reclassified charges against him in an incident with Vsevolod Filimonenko, an aide to member of parliament Serhiy Melnychuk and a reporter for Glas Naroda website.
The case has been reclassified from “causing bodily harm” to an assault on a journalist, a more serious crime according to the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Civil watchdogs claim it is a part of continuing attacks on anti-corruption activists in Ukraine and pointed out that it stands out amid dozens of other attacks on journalists remaining uninvestigated.
In a statement published on Jan. 19, the largest coalition of non-governmental organizations in Ukraine, the Reanimation Package of Reforms, has called for authorities to stop political persecution of “one of the most well-known fighters against corruption.”
Read also: Police give corruption-fighter Shabunin notice of suspicion in criminal case
Activists believe that Shabunin and his Anti-Corruption Action Center became targets of a smear campaign and law enforcers’ attacks after they had demanded the employees of Special Service of Ukraine (SBU) to disclose their assets.
The collision between Shabunin and Filimonenko, which resulted into a criminal case, took place in June in Kyiv. Filimonenko approached Shabunin with questions about his military service, although Shabunin had been excused for health reasons.
Shabunin then hit Filimonenko in the face, saying that it was payback for Filimonenko insulting Oleksandra Ustinova, an expert at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, and making her cry. Filimonenko sprayed Shabunin with a pepper spray.
Media professionals also sided with Shabunin saying his actions were unrelated to Filimonenko’s work as a journalist. In a statement, Institute of Mass Information and Detector Media urged the authorities to investigate cases when journalists were attacked for their professional activities.
The Reanimation Package of Reforms also highlighted the selectivity of Ukrainian justice when it comes to protecting journalists.
Last December, Kyiv court convicted Yuriy Krysin to a four-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation period for bearing and shooting Vesti journalist Vyacheslav Veremiy who died in hospital. The fatal attack on Veremiy was classified as hooliganism.
No one has been held accountable for threats and assaults on the crew of Schemes, an investigative program of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty Ukrainian service. In November, journalists were attacked by bodyguards of oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk as they were filming his arrival to Kyiv’s Zhulyany airport from Russia on his private jet.
The same fate expected the investigation of the 2015 attack on the crew of Nashi Groshi, a different investigative program. Nashi Groshi were producing an investigation about Deputy Interior Minister Serhiy Chebotar when Chebotar’s son-in-law and several security guards assaulted the crew.
The probe into the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet, who was killed by a car blast in 2016, has been stalled, too.
