The Security Service of Ukraine opened a criminal case against the Ukrainian blogger and politician Anatoly Shariy for encroaching on the country's territorial integrity.

This was announced on his Facebook page by Rada deputy from the European Solidarity party Alexey Goncharenko.

The politician posted a copy of the secret service's response to his appeal - earlier Goncharenko demanded to open a criminal case against Sharia.

The reason was the appearance in one of the blogger's videos of a map of Ukraine without Crimea and part of Donbass.

“The document says that in connection with this (the deputy's appeal. -

RT

), a pre-trial investigation is underway under Part 1 of Art.

110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - "Encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine," - explained Goncharenko.

According to a letter signed by Deputy Head of the SBU Sergei Andrushchenko, the pre-trial investigation was launched by the service on October 17, 2020.

Anatoly Shariy, in turn, drew attention to the fact that the case was opened the next day after Goncharenko's application was filed.

According to the blogger, this suggests that the alleged opposition deputy is cooperating with the SBU and, accordingly, with the current President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

Shariy also noted that the demonstration in the frame is "wrong", from the point of view of Kiev, the card does not fall under Art.

110 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, since this action does not contain a call to violate the integrity of the country.

Shariy linked the initiation of a criminal case with his political activity - last year the blogger founded his own party.

Geographical "code" of Ukraine

Recall that Art.

110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to five years for "deliberate actions" committed with the aim of changing the borders of Ukraine and contrary to its Constitution.

The article also applies to public calls for such action.

Demonstration of the map of Ukraine within the borders without the Crimean peninsula and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has repeatedly become a pretext for criminal cases.

So, in August 2017, an investigation was launched in the Kiev region, in the city of Brovary, where on the Independence Day of Ukraine the local city council presented a map of the country without Crimea and Donbass.

  • Russian border guards at a fence erected in Crimea, on the border with Ukraine

  • RIA News

  • © Alexander Polegenko

At the end of 2018, a similar map was shown during a meeting of the Rada, when the interim commission of the Ukrainian parliament considered the facts of embezzlement in the army.

The session was broadcast by several Ukrainian TV channels at once.

At the same time, none of the deputies even paid attention to the "error" on the map.

In April 2019, the police opened a criminal case after a video with a map of Ukraine without Crimea was shown at the Kiev Borispol airport.

The case was opened following a complaint from one of the passengers.

At the same time, the initiative to broadcast such a video in the airport building came from the Ukrainian Ministry of Information Policy.

In the same 2019, the SBU department for the Transcarpathian region opened a criminal case over the publication of a regional map in the colors of the Hungarian flag in a local newspaper.

The SBU considered that such a publication could "provoke separatist sentiments among the Hungarian national minority."

As the director of the Ukrainian Institute for Analysis and Policy Management Ruslan Bortnik noted in the RT commentary, in order for the criminal case against Shariy to end with a guilty verdict, the investigation still needs to prove the intentionality of his actions.

“Generally speaking, such cases are a common practice for Ukraine.

They even started up against those who accidentally used a map of Ukraine without Crimea and Donbass, "Bortnik explained in a conversation with RT.

RANEPA teacher Sergei Margulis, in turn, noted the similarity of the situation with the Ukrainian blogger with the state of affairs in Georgia.

“Both of these states consider it unacceptable to display cards with violated, from the point of view of the authorities, borders.

And most often in such cases, the courts issue guilty verdicts, ”the expert explained in an interview with RT.

  • OSCE observers and members of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire and Stabilization of the Line of Contact of the Parties to the Conflict (JCCC) in the village of Zolote in Luhansk Oblast

  • RIA News

Recall that the Crimean peninsula became part of the Russian Federation during the Ukrainian political crisis in 2014.

Against the background of the Kiev "Euromaidan", the leadership of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) (the peninsula had such a status as part of Ukraine. -

RT

) initiated a referendum on the status of the region, which was held on March 16.

Then the overwhelming majority of Crimean residents spoke in favor of the return of the peninsula to Russia.

However, the Ukrainian authorities still refuse to accept the results of the popular will and demand that the region be “returned” to the republic.

"Under serious pressure"

We will remind, YouTube-blogger Anatoly Shariy became famous thanks to criticism of the Ukrainian authorities.

Back in January 2012, he left the territory of the republic and later received political asylum in Lithuania.

At home, several criminal cases were initiated against the blogger, including on false charges.

Being in exile did not prevent Shariy from founding his own political party in Ukraine last summer.

“No oligarchs, no TV, no multi-million dollar budgets and media.

Only Anatoly and hundreds of thousands of people who yearn for truth and change, ”the website of the political force says.

  • Local elections in Ukraine, October 2020

  • Reuters

  • © Valentyn Ogirenko

The party ideology is based on the "philosophical doctrine of libertarianism", and in the field of foreign policy, Shariy proposes to be guided by "Ukrainian centrism."

“We are in favor of a pro-European vector of Ukraine's development, however, if it does not harm our state interests,” the party program says.

In October 2020, the Sharia Party took part in local elections and was able to get into a number of city councils.

In Nikolaev, the party gained 6.4%, in Odessa - 6.82%.

In addition, the political force won 6.55% of the vote in Kharkov, 5.9% in Kramatorsk.

According to experts, the initiation of a criminal case against Sharia under a far-fetched pretext can be regarded as an attempt to exert political pressure on the party.

“This case is undoubtedly connected with the political activity of the Sharia Party.

And the opposition blogger has been under pressure for a long time, long before he created a party and participated in local elections.

Earlier, other criminal cases were opened against Shariy in Ukraine.

He is under serious political pressure from the authorities, ”Ruslan Bortnik said.

Sergei Margulis adheres to a slightly different point of view.

The expert recalled that the Sharia Party is far from the only political force opposing the current Ukrainian government.

“The front of the opposition forces in Ukraine is now quite large, first of all it should be noted“ Opposition bloc - For Life ”, as well as a number of other parties.

So the authorities have no motives to focus specifically on Sharia and his party.

Although there may well be political motives behind the criminal prosecution of a blogger, ”the expert said.

At the same time, analysts doubt that by initiating criminal prosecutions similar to the one launched against Shariy, Kiev will achieve its geopolitical goals.

“Such a course will not help Ukraine, for example, to return Donbass to its jurisdiction.

Here we can recall how Kiev recently put forward its plan for the Donbas settlement, which is completely contrary to the Minsk agreements.

It is obvious that Kiev is not ready for a constructive dialogue, but prefers to pursue a populist policy, ”concluded Margulis.