Political persecution in Ukraine and call to action October 17, 2017

PRESS RELEASE

Political persecution in Ukraine and call to action October 17, 2017

September 26, 2017

The Justice Movement of Valentyn Nalyvaichenko is demanding the government stop its repressions of their party and its leader; and announces a new protest against the government on October 17, 2017

Ukrainian government authorities, at the direction of President Petro Poroshenko, continue to politically persecute those who take a stand against injustice and corruption in government. On September 21, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko directed the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to bring Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the leading anti-corruption campaigner in the country, for interrogation about a fabricated case.

The Justice Movement demands the end of repressions against President’s opponents and to punish those who are serving Moscow’s interests. Mass protests were conducted near the SBU headquarters in Kyiv, on September 21, where the interrogation of the Justice Movement leader Valentyn Nalyvaichenko simultaneously took place. Supporters of Valentyn held posters and chanted: ‘Stop political repressions!’, ‘SBU must punish collaborators and separatists instead of political opponents’, ‘For a just Ukraine without corruption!’.

Different political forces also came to give support to Nalyvaichenko’s Movement.

“Today we are all together – The Justice Movement, Patriot Party, Saakashvili’s New Forces Movement, NGOs – Stop Lawlessness, Zaporizhzhia Anti-Corruption Movement, volunteer medical workers from the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital and a thousand of Ukrainian patriots are here to say: we are against political repressions. The President’s attempted repressions will not intimidate us!” said Nalyvaichenko before entering the SBU headquarters.

Friends and supporters are filled with indignation that the corrupted Ukrainian government is seeking to defame Nalyvaichenko, a Ukrainian patriot against whom the Russian Investigative Committee in Moscow has opened a criminal case under four articles to prosecute him, who is at risk of arrest and severe punishment in Russia, as being a Russian collaborator. Such an absurd attempt at character assassination is obviously ridiculous.

“Summons of Nalyvaichenko for interrogation is a ruthless act by the authorities. But the answer to such an act could be only one – our unity, our team, and resolute action,” says Chief Secretariat of the Justice Movement Ruslan Kolesnikov.

“Such actions of the authorities prove that Nalyvaichenko is successful in his struggle against corruption and is regarded by Poroshenko as a political threat; that is why the President ordered his henchmen to silence Nalyvaichenko. It is already obvious that Poroshenko is not planning to win the next presidential elections fairly, and wants to get rid of his opponents by black politics!” Kolesnikov emphasized.

This is not the last protest that is planned against this corrupt government. The united opposition voted on a Resolution to come out on the Maidan in Kyiv on October 17, 2017 to support urgently needed reforms.

The key demand in the Resolution is to punish those who illegally travelled to Russia in 2014 and 2015, which is the criminal case in which Nalyvaichenko was interrogated as a witness on September 21.

“During the interrogation, that lasted 3.5 hours, I provided evidence of airplanes use, including by the representatives of the current government in Ukraine. Specifically, I gave evidence about the illegal flights to Russia in February 2014. I can even tell you where those flights were headed in Russia: Moscow, Belgorod, and Sochi. I demanded that investigators uncover who were the passengers of those flights, and what was illegally taken out from Ukraine and passed to Russia. We demand to expel Kremlin agents from among the authorities!” Justice Movement leader Valentyn Nalyvaichenko stated after returning from the interrogation.