Court sets UAH 60 thousand bail for anti-corruption activist Lemenov in case of army evasion - media

The court has imposed a pre-trial restraint on anti-corruption activist and founder of the StateWatch analytical center Oleksandr Liemenov, who is accused of evading service and failing to appear at the TCR. He was granted bail in the amount of UAH 60.5 thousand - this decision was made by the Bila Tserkva City District Court  on December 27, 2024.

In particular, it states that Lemenov has a military specialty in "organization of moral and psychological support of troops" and that in February 2024, the Military Qualification Commission recognized him fit for military service, writes Law and Business.

However, since November, Lemenov has been avoiding visiting the Bila Tserkva TCR, where he is registered, and as a result, he was put on the wanted list. During the pre-trial investigation, he also did not appear before the investigator, which "indicates his improper procedural behavior," the ruling says.

On December 6, when he arrived at the TCR, he was read a summons to report to the assembly point and warned of criminal liability for evading the draft. However, in the presence of witnesses, Lemenov refused to receive the summons and did not appear at the assembly point at the appointed time, and did not report the reasons for his absence.

Already on December 8, Lemenov was notified of suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Article 336 of the Criminal Code, which provides for a sentence of up to 5 years in prison.

"O.V. Lemenov, knowing about the martial law on the territory of Ukraine, committed a criminal offense in the field of conscription and mobilization without any remorse or compassion," the investigating judge noted when choosing a preventive measure.

The court also questioned witnesses who confirmed the circumstances provided by the investigators.

Lemenov must deposit UAH 60,500 in bail to the court's deposit account within 5 days. The court also ordered him to report to the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge, and court upon first summons and notify them of any change in his place of residence.

This is not the first time that anti-corruption activists have avoided performing their military duty. This phenomenon has already been called "shabuning" after Vitaliy Shabunin, head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, against whom the SBI opened a number of criminal cases, including evasion of mobilization, forgery of NACP documents, illegal use of humanitarian aid and misappropriation of a Nissan Pathfinder jeep.

According to media reports, many anti-corruption activists and figures are evading the army, including the husband of AntAC head Daria Kaleniuk, Orest Rudyi, Mykhailo Zhernakov, journalists Yuriy Butusov, Yuriy Nikolov, Maksym Savchuk, Maksym Opanasenko, Oleksandr Notevskyi, Petro Poroshenko's son Oleksiy, his lawyer Ihor Holovan, and others.