A prominent anti-corruption campaigner is facing criminal charges that seem ominously reminiscent of the selective prosecutions seen under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych. While Vitaly Shabunin did indeed punch Vsevolod Filimonenko, the circumstances and effect are by no means straightforward. Questions must also be asked as to why criminal charges have been laid in this case, when they so very often are not despite much clearer grounds, including the involvement of politicians or members of the authorities. Given all of the above, and other measures directed against Shabunin and his Anti-Corruption Centre [AntAC] over the last year or more, there is no chance of such questions going away without adequate answers.
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Halya Coynash: Return to selective justice feared in Ukraine over prosecution of anti-corruption activist
Vitaly Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center’s management board, speaks at a rally in favor of appointing an independent prosecutor general on March 28. Ex-prosecutor generals Vitaly Yarema and Viktor Shokin, current Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko and top prosecutors Yuriy Stolyarchuk and Yuriy Sevruk (all pictured above) are Poroshenko loyalists who have failed to deliver justice, according to critics.
