The ECtHR will examine the complaints of Shabunin and NABU detectives concerning violations during the July attack: ZMINA documented the violations

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has decided to examine the applications filed by Vitalii Shabunin and detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) regarding numerous abuses and violations during the July events involving mass investigative actions and attempts to bring anti-corruption activists to accountability.

This was reported by the NGO Anticorruption Action Centre (AntAC) and the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, with reference to official replies from the ECtHR.

The relevant applications were filed in November last year. They concern violations of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms during searches conducted by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) without the relevant court warrants at the home of Vitalii Shabunin, Chairman of the Anticorruption Action Centre, in July last year and his subsequent prosecution.

The applications of NABU detectives relate to similar circumstances during mass searches on 21 July 2025, likewise conducted without court warrants.The complaints concern the lack of legal grounds for such actions, unlawful detentions, beatings and other violations.

“ZMINA participated in gathering information on violations, monitored the progress of the cases in question, documented violations through public channels, and conducted its own assessment of these events in cooperation with the defenders of anti-corruption activists whose rights were grossly violated. We are pleased that this has already yielded its first result and that the ECtHR has initiated the proceedings“, said Tetiana Pechonchyk, Head of the Board of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA.

We would like to remind you that in July last year, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) had conducted searches at Vitalii Shabunin’s home and military unit where he was serving. During the searches, he was informed that he was suspected of allegedly evading military service and fraud. The AntAC and Vitalii Shabunin himself point to numerous abuses by SBI investigators and prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office, who arrived without the appropriate court warrants, seized Shabunin’s phone and other devices before the investigative actions, and unjustifiably took away the equipment belonging to his children and wife.

In response to the criminal prosecution of Shabunin, one hundred Ukrainian NGOs called upon the authorities to stop using the justice system for political reprisals against anti-corruption activists. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also appealed to the Ukrainian authorities to immediately cease all persecution of anti-corruption activist, head of the Anticorruption Action Centre and military officer Vitalii Shabunin.

“The cases of Shabunin and the NABU detectives are very similar in nature. They are united by the fact that they occurred during the same period and followed similar scenarios, with all those involved in exposing high-level corruption becoming targets of attack. Despite the fact that the essence of the claims is radically different: from a traffic accident to the sale of cannabis and evasion of military service, as in Shabunin’s case. Law enforcement agencies synchronised all these cases precisely at the time when the Office of the President was preparing to strip NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) of their powers“, said Olena Shcherban, Deputy Executive Director of the AntAC, lawyer of Vitalii Shabunin and NABU detective Ruslan Mahamedrasulov.

The AntAC and ZMINA will monitor the progress of the case in the ECtHR and will provide further updates on the details of the examination.

More detailed information about the violations committed during investigative actions concerning NABU detectives and Shabunin can be found at the following links:

On violations by law enforcement authorities in Shabunin’s case

On violations during the searches of NABU detectives