Solidarity Protest in Kiev

On Sept.15, about 20 acivists with black and red flas picketed the Serbian Embassy in the Ukraine.

The activists protested against the arrest of five libertarian acivists. They blamd the government of Serbia and police for attempting to repress social activists. Even the police who were guarding the embassy expressed their disbelief at the disproportion between the “crime” and the proposed charges.
“15 years for smashing a window – that’s absurd, especially if there is no proof that those arrested had anything to do with it,” said one of the speakers.
They were not able to submit a protest letter to the embassy. The clerk refused to take the letter and ran away. The demonstrators thus left their text with the guards.
The protestors wrote*:(*Incomplete translation)

We are writing to demand the immediate release of Tadej Kurep, Ivan Vulovic, Sanja Dojkic, Ratibor Trivunac and Nicola Mitrovic, arrested September 4 this year in Belgrade on absurd grounds. The claims of the prosecution, which accuse the social activists of the most serious of crimes, international terrorism, are obviously far-fetched. The aim of the members of the International Workers’ Association is union struggle, and not throwing flammable bottles. These activists distinguished themselves as members of student protest in Belgrade, not as warriors. The members of the Anarcho-Sindikalist Initiative immediately declared that they have nothing in common with the group “Black Elijah” and had nothing to do with the action. We believe that violations of law, taking the police taking family members of activists hostage point to the political nature of this case.

Thus the state is trying to divert attention from the changes in the penal code, rise of authoritarian tendencies in the country and to label all those who are active and not indifferent criminals.

We will not sit idly by when people are fighting for social justice, are oppressed on the basis of their political activity. We will conduct a campaign for the immediate release of these activists and an end to state repression.

Participants of the left and the trade union movement in Ukraine

http://asi.zsp.net.pl/solidarity-protest-in-kiev/

5 Responses to “Solidarity Protest in Kiev”

  1. admin Says:
    September 16th, 2009 at 07:22 Hello from the Admin side. I tried to translate the text of the Ukrainian protesters. I hope the translation is OK. However, I cut out two sentences: Це все одно, що судити всіх сербських політиків, що тільки висловили свою незгоду із відокремленням Косово, як погромників, що вчинили підпал американської амбасади не обтяжуючи себе працею по збору доказів. Так це звучить абсурдно, але справа проти Белградської „п”ятірки” і є абсурдною у правовому сенсі.

    The second sentences I can translate, but did not because it related to the first. It says: Yes, it sounds absurd, but the case against the Belgrade 5 is absurd in the legal sense.

    The first sentence, if I understand correctly, says something like “it’s like calling all Serbian politicians who were against Kosovan indepedence pogromists”… and then something about attacking the American Embassy and collecting evidence about it. Honestly, I can’t understand the sense because I don’t understand Ukrainian 100% and I cannot guess the logical connection. I will try to get somebody to fill it in later, but I thought the statement was OK enough (or even better:-) without that, so I put up the slightly shorter version.

    The full text, in the original, is in the Ukrainian language section.

  2. admin Says:
    September 16th, 2009 at 09:03 Other admin here. I also don’t understand Ukrainian 100%, but I would say that it means something like that:

    “The serbian polititians supposedly only ‘expressed their anger at the independence of Kosovo’, when they burned the American embassy and no one bothered to collect evidence. Maybe instead they can be judged as pogromists. In this context, the case against the Belgrad “five” is legally absurd.”

    Of course it would be better if a Ukrainian person commented :)

  3. admin Says:
    September 16th, 2009 at 09:11 Admin 1 back: I’m not sure but let our Ukrainian comrades say rather than keep speculating. :-)
  4. admin Says:
    September 16th, 2009 at 13:53 I received this translation into Russian:

    Это все равно, что судить всех сербских политиков, которые выразили свое несогласие по поводу отделения Косово, как погромщиков, которые подожгли американское посольство, не утруждая себя сбором доказательств. Да, это звучит абсурдно, но дело против Белградской “пятерки” и есть абсурдным в юридическом смысле.

    So that would mean:

    “It would be like judging all Serbian polititians who were against the independence of Kosovo to be guilty of setting fire to the US embassy, without bothering to get any proof. It sounds absurd, but it is just as absurd as the case against the Belgrade 5 is absurd in a legal sense.”

  5. Free the Belgrade anarchists! » Blog Archive » Ukrajina: Prosvjed solidarnosti u Kijevu Says:
    September 18th, 2009 at 00:39 […] Izvor: http://asi.zsp.net.pl/solidarity-protest-in-kiev/ […]