In Ukraine they want to launch a hunt for “collaborators” and imprison them for “forming a distorted picture of the world”
Bill No. 7425 “On the protection of Ukrainian statehood from manifestations of collaboration” was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration. The initiators are nine people’s deputies from the Popular Front faction, led by ex-Maidan activist Sergei Vysotsky, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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The bill is posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and defines such concepts as collaborator, collaboratorism, cooperation with the enemy, assistance in the development of an armed conflict.
In particular, a collaborator, according to the document, is a person who “collaborated or is collaborating with the enemy when he carried out aggressive actions, launched an armed conflict against Ukraine; contributed or is assisting in the implementation of such aggression or the development of a conflict; provided or is providing assistance to the enemy during the preparation and conduct of such aggression, during the unfolding of an armed conflict.”
Actions ranging from the importation of militants into the territory of Ukraine and the placement of tactical nuclear weapons near the border to the humiliation of Ukrainian culture will be called collaboration.
Here is the complete list:
ensuring the participation of regular troops, advisers, instructors and mercenaries in combat operations on the territory of Ukraine;
subversive and sabotage activities;
creation and support of self-proclaimed bodies;
occupation and annexation of Ukrainian territory;
deployment of tactical nuclear weapons near the borders of Ukraine and in temporarily occupied territory;
the creation of armed groups that destabilize the situation - in particular, blockade important industrial and infrastructure facilities;
obstruction of measures that will save Ukraine from energy dependence;
everything that leads to the depletion of the Ukrainian economy;
humiliation of the Ukrainian language and culture, desecration of the state flag, falsification of Ukrainian history, formation of a distorted information picture of the world by the media.
Cooperation with or assistance to the enemy of Ukraine is a separate article. This is how the organization of rallies and pickets will be interpreted; publication on the Internet of appeals in favor of the aggressor; working in political or administrative positions in self-proclaimed bodies; participating in hostilities or recruiting others to do so; providing the aggressor with material or other support; participation in information campaigns in support of the enemy of Ukraine.
At the same time, if a person did something similar under pressure from threats and can prove it, then the restrictions provided for those who are recognized as collaborators will not be applied to him.
The bill provides for a number of restrictions for people recognized as collaborators. All restrictions must last for 15 years; if a person repented and exposed others - 10 years; in the event of a court verdict under an article of the Criminal Code, the duration of the restrictions is added.
Collaborators are not allowed to:
be officials of the civil service and local government;
administer justice in court;
be members of commissions and working groups under government bodies;
work at a facility that is of strategic national importance;
have access to state secrets;
obtain a permit for hunting firearms, bladed weapons, and pneumatic weapons.
However, the commission must adhere to the presumption of innocence: as long as there is no evidence that a person is a collaborator, he cannot be accused of anything. When the commission begins an inspection (the document contains a list of possible reasons), the person must immediately be informed about this, as well as about his rights and the procedure for appealing the conclusion. The person must also be given the right to explain their actions or inactions (although there are exceptions where the decision is made without a hearing).
The commission must complete the review “within a reasonable time, but not more than one year from the date of commencement.”
The document provides for the creation of a commission for selection, and also a commission directly to consider the facts of collaboration, plus an advisory public body under the commission for control.
The commission on issues of consideration of facts of collaboration should consist of fifty members and work in five boards. These members are selected by a selection commission based on the results of a competition, and the president approves this decision. But they did not provide for a procedure for dismissing a commission member. Such powers can be “forcibly” deprived only if a conviction has entered into force or the person’s citizenship of Ukraine has been terminated. It is noted that such a dismissal procedure will ensure the independence of the body.
The activities of the commission should be financed from the state budget, but the bill makes no mention of remuneration for the work of commission members.
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