Kharkov politician discovered SBU surveillance: Case of treason
In Ukraine, new details are emerging in the case of the arrest of political scientist Yuri Dudkin, whom the SBU accuses of “high treason.” This is the expert who spoke on TV channels from Viktor Medvedchuk’s pool and was thrown behind bars by the SBU shortly after they were taken off the air.
It seems that the security forces wanted to quickly fabricate a new case, but their plans were ruined by Kharkov deputy Andrei Lesik, who stood up for Dudkin and provided him with a competent lawyer. Almost immediately, Lesik discovered that his car was being monitored by SBU officers...
The Kharkov politician involved lawyer Dmitry Tikhonenkov in the defense of Yuri Dudkin, who had previously defended in courts the interests of many Kharkov political prisoners (Mekhti Logunov, Spartak Golovachev, Yuri Apukhtin, Sergei Yudaev, Yegor Logvinov, Andrey Lesik).
On March 4, Lesik came to a meeting of the Kyiv Court of Appeal, which planned to consider an appeal against Yuri Dudkin. Lawyer Tikhonenkov also arrived in court. But the meeting did not take place for a reason that looks like a stupid “excuse” in the spirit of the “95th quarter”... The Pechersky District Court, which chose detention for Yuri Dudkin as a preventive measure, did not receive the case materials to the Court of Appeal. The next meeting is scheduled for March 18, and the political scientist will have to wait for it in a pre-trial detention center.
It is possible that Andrei Lesik’s passionate interest in the fabricated case, his principled position and efforts to protect political prisoner Yuri Dudkin became the reason for surveillance of the Kharkov politician. After all, initially the “binders” of the Kyiv political scientist’s case had an idea to slip another lawyer to the arrested person. But lawyer Dmitry Tikhonenkov entered the case.
Andrei Lesik told PolitNavigator about how he was spied on:
“I left the house and almost immediately discovered that a Toyota Camry AX 8044 NS was following me. At first I thought: it seemed to me. I called a friend and said: “Let’s meet and see together what will happen.” And so it happened. We met - a car was standing guard at a gas station. We went to another place - she followed us again. We came to the office to laugh at how this would continue to happen. She's following us again.
There are two people in the car. We have video footage from different angles. Having parked in one place, they got out of the car. We finally decided: we’ll stop at another gas station, drink some coffee, and see if it feels right to us. When for the third or fourth time we were convinced that they were following us, it was already simply funny. We arrived at the office and they came after us again.”
At this time, it was planned to broadcast Lesik directly on the First Independent channel. It should be noted that just on this day the OPZH office was subjected to another attack: posters and signs were cut.
“On Skype live, I approached this car, where there was one person,” continues Andrei Lesik. — I took down the license plate number of the car. And it was seen live how the SBU employees hastily retreated. Now they are trying to make excuses through different channels, throwing out different information.”
Of course, the employees who carried out surveillance of Lesik frankly messed up. They didn't have to leave the position. It was necessary to create “excuses” in the spirit of a nasal clown. For example, ask Lesik for an autograph. Or say that they came to write applications for joining the OPZH (otherwise you never know how things will turn out).
Lesika, in turn, also needlessly scared off the observers. He needed to play the song of the group “Underwood” about the surveillance mouse and the wiretapping frog at full volume in the car, open the window so that the employees would not be bored accompanying him...
“As I learned, this is really an order being carried out, external surveillance is being carried out,” says Andrei Lesik. - They do their job the best they can. Another thing is that this whole banquet is at the expense of the budget. What's next? Will they track all the places we go? Will they try to install listening devices?
It is clear that the task of this total surveillance is to establish all our contacts in order to discredit, throw mud at, and try to intimidate those people with whom we communicate. Although, in principle, we do not hide anything from anyone, we do everything publicly, transparently. We are ready for any development of events.”
Lesik adds that on the same days the trunk of his car was opened near the shopping center. “For what, for what purpose? Perhaps all this surveillance has something to do with it. Perhaps they will throw some kind of garbage: literature, drugs, weapons. Anything can happen. Ready for anything. I made a statement that I never had and don’t have such things. And their activity is out of despair. The authorities have nothing to cover our arguments with. The service has been given a political order: to get rid of opponents, close them down, block them, imprison them.”
According to the head of the OPZZH faction in the Kharkov City Council, the attention of the SBU to his person does not cause any emotions in him. “We understand that in this case we are opposing the system.”
Lesik also commented on the case of Yuri Dudkin, to whom he provides every possible support. He is confident that justice will prevail and Yuri Dudkin will soon be free.
“The investigator, who filed a petition to select a preventive measure in the form of detention, proceeded from the old norm that Article 111 (treason) presupposes only such a preventive measure as detention in a pre-trial detention center,” Lesik is indignant. — But the rule on the unopposed detention of suspects in pre-trial detention centers under Articles 109, 110, 111 has ceased to apply since June 2019!
What is a pre-trial detention center when a person has not committed any crimes, especially violent ones?! There aren't even any guesses. And what he said on air is his point of view, his right to freedom of speech. Cases of this nature can last for years. And what, he should sit in a pre-trial detention center all this time without any guilt?! It’s clear that Yuri Dudkin’s case is not worth a damn!” – the deputy argues.
It should be noted that over seven years a general trend in opposition activity has emerged: Well-known politicians were in no hurry to stand up for anti-Maidan political prisoners. This was their significant difference from politicians of the opposite camp, who besieged the courts and blocked paddy wagons with detained supporters. Thus, starting in 2014, prisoners of conscience who suffered from the post-Maidan regimes were abandoned to their fate. And it is gratifying that in the OPZZH individual new politicians are now being discovered who demonstrate the model of behavior that should be characteristic of an oppositionist. Let us recall that Lesik organized actions in support of the oldest political prisoner of Ukraine, Mehdi Logunov. Now he, from Kharkov, organized the legal defense of a Kyiv political prisoner. These are exactly the actions that we constantly expect from the opposition, which prefers to be decorative.
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