Left.ru ________________________________________________________________________________
Torture and Kangaroo Court for Political Prisoners in Ukraine
 

In December 2002  ten young internationalists (18-35) were arrested, tortured and thrown into the jail in the city of Odessa. Five of them are Ukrainian citizens: A. Yakovenko, B. Zinchenko, O. Alekseev, S. Berdiugin, A. Gerasimov.  Four Russian citizens: I. Danilov, A. Plevo, I. Romanov, A. Smirnov.  One Moldova citizen: E. Semenov.

They were accused in the  attempt to organize the armed rebellion against the Ukrainian government of Kuchma.   In the dungeons of Nikolaev and Odessa the police and Secret Service tortured them to obtain confession. In case of  Igor Danilov, the interrogators  drove needles under his finger nails and repeatedly smashed his head against the wall.  But they were not able to break the revolutionary.   They had more success with some of the younger prisoners. 

These brave young people do not deny the accusations, charging the regime in  the GENOCIDE OF THE WHOLE NATION. They struggled openly for the restoration of the Soviet Union , for the dignity of their nation.

Their youth started with the “School of Interrogation”, with imprisonment  and tortures. 
In the result, some of them have broken ribs and bones and do not receive proper medical help.
This is how they entered the worldwide multi-national army of political prisoners, whose sufferings are usually kept from the public eyes.

The case of 10 Komsomol  members is closed, as they learned recently.They have learned that their trial is going to be held “behind the closed doors”. 

 Left.Ru appeals to progressive people and organizations to demand from the Ukrainian authorities fair open trial for the accused and impartial investigation of the brutal and illegal methods that were used to extract forced confessions from these young  people. 

Following is the short letter written from the prison by Evgeny Semenov, one of the prisoners:
 

“ Dear Comrades!

I have very short time.  I’ll be very brief. 
My name is Semenov, Evgeny. Here, in the Odessa's prison, with me there are  my NINE comrades, arrested and tortured systematically throughout 6 months of the interrogation .Now our case is closed and the trial begins sometime in the fall. In order to cover up the tortures that we were subjected to, the Ukrainian Department of Security  plans to keep our trial in undisclosed location, with no defense lawyers for us and without the presence of public,  let alone any journalist or observer.

If that is the case, we will go on the hunger strike at the very opening of the court’s hearing.
With the death of any of us (our health has grossly deteriorated)  there is a hope that some of our comrades will be able to  exercise their constitutional right for the open hearing.

We have sent our mutual appeal to The Rada ( the Parliament of Ukraine) and to The Human Rights Secretary, describing murderous interrogations during the time  of our detention.

We are accused in  crimes committed against  the currently ruling Government of Ukraine.
On our part, we  accuse the governing bourgeoisie  in the GENOCIDE COMMITED AGAINST THEIR OWN PEOPLE.

The trial MUST BE HELD OPENLY  for there is different degree of the involvement in  our activity
between our 10 comrades and everyone must be judged by the Court  according to his involvement.
Yes! We  ACCUSE THIS REGIME IN THE WORST CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY!
WE WANT TO STOP THEM  BEFORE THEIR POLICY OF  GENOCIDE  THREATENS THE VERY EXISTENCE OF OUR NATION!
WE WILL FIGHT TILL OUR FATHERLAND -  THAT IS THE SOVIET UNION  - WILL BE FREE AGAIN! 
And  if we have to die for that  we want to be remembered  as we say now: 
WE WERE COMMUNISTS, WE ARE COMMUNISTS AND WE WILL DIE  UNBENDED!

COMRADES, REVENGE US if we never come out of these torture chambers!   Don’t let them catch you or to silence your  voice!

Our address: Odessa’s Central Prison
And  here are our names:
 Yakovenko A.; Zinchenko B.; Alexseev  O.; Berlugin S.; Gerasimov A. – citizens of Ukraine
Danilov E.; Plevo A.; Romanov E.; Smirnov A. – Russian citizens
Semenov E, - citizen of Molodavia 

Farewell, comrades! 

--------------------------------------
These are some of the addresses where you could call or send the letters of protest : 

CENTRAL PROSECUTION of UKRAINE 
MSP 01601 
Kiev –11 Risnizka Street 13/15 
Tel: (38-044) 291 –2701 Fax: (38-044) 290 – 2603 
SUPREME COURT of UKRAINE: 
E-mail: supcourt@scourt.gov.ua

PRESIDENT of UKRAINE L.D. KUCHMA 
Kiev - 220 
Bankova Street 11 
Tel: (38-044) 291- 5333 
www.president.gov.ua/feedback/

THE MINISTRY CABINET of UKRAINE
01008, Kiev-8, Grushevskogo street 12/2. 
Yanukovich Viktor Fedorovich 
------------------------------------------ 
Tel: (38-044) 226-32-63, (38-044) 293-16-63 Fax: (38-044) 293-21-71 
UKRAINIAN PARLAMENT “RADA” 
Kiev- 008 
Grushnevskogo Street N 5 
Litvin V.M. 
Tel: (38-044) 254 – 0890 

The suggested text for the letter: 

“ Dear … 
The trial of 10 young Ukrainian and Russian activists by the Ukrainian Secret Serves in the December of 2002 is getting wide international attention despite the Government’s decision to hold it hidden from the public scrutiny. The world is learning once more about inhuman methods used by another government, in this case it’s of Ukraine, for the implementing the Democracy “by any means possible” . 
Tortures of the prisoners, “the secret trails” ( with no defense provided), murders and consequent cover ups of “uncounted and unnamed prisoners”, all of it gradually unveils the frightening inhuman face of the dictatorial regime which had never had anything to do with the façade that painted as “the democracy”. But, to the deepest regrets, those methods becomes the sign of the troubled times we are facing now. 
The International Action Center in New York, founded by the former Attorney General of USA Ramsey Clark, long time the honorable defender of the oppressed humanity, recently acknowledged that the new-born democratic country of Ukraine is not the exception and the “secret” interrogations used by the US military in 120 countries, occupied nowadays by US Army, the Ukrainian Government finds appropriate for the establishment of the democracy inside the country. 
Being well informed about the inhuman condition of the political prisoners in so many countries (including the USA), The International Action Center calls for the attention of all progressive forces in the world to come to the defense of 10 Ukrainian activists, locked up in the in the Central Prison of city of Odessa ( Ukraine), waiting for the trail that the Government of Ukraine is going to hold “ in secret”. It is obviously that 6 months of tortures, imposed on the 10 young people during the interrogations, 
might shed the dark light on the new Ukrainian “democracy” and to keep it hidden from public eyes appears necessary. 
International Action Center PROTESTS from the “secrecy” of this trail and appeals to the Government of Ukraine with the request to investigate the violations of the human rights of 10 young activists that are taking a place now, under the watch of the 
President L.D. Kuchma. 
OPEN DOORS TO THE COURT! 
PEOPLE OF UKRAINE MUST KNOW WHERE THEIR COUNTRY STANDS! 

Signed 
 

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