The big hedge funds that have shorted CYDY, did not short us because they believed leronlimab had no potential, nor because they believed that the share price was headed downward nor because they believed the company was destined to fail. Their motive in shorting was to "intentionally" drive the price downward, it has nothing to do with the company, the nature of the product. They see a descent "set-up" eg OTC stock, no revenue, no approvals, mostly retail investors, they smell weakness and opportunity. They will short the cure for cancer, a time travel machine or a Tiddly Winks manufacturer. They don't care or even notice the product, it's a search for the "set-up" in OTC stocks mainly.

No "illegal shorting" = CYDY share would be much higher than it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGMTU3IpPrY

It's legal to short a stock if the investor thinks the company has no hope or for some reason, some bad news, thinks the share price is heading down.

It's illegal to short a stock with the intent to "cause" the share price to go down.

But it might just as well be legal, because it's difficult to prove, takes years to prove, nobody attempts to challenge it., and the system is designed to benefit those who do it.