The Bundestag demands that Zelensky rein in Avakov's dogs
Andriy Hunko, speaker on European politics of the Left faction in the German Bundestag, deputy chairman of the United European Left faction in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in a personal letter addressed the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky regarding political repression in Ukraine and the existence of the “Peacemaker” website ”, where the personal data of citizens disliked by the regime were illegally published, some of whom were subsequently killed or attacked. One of the curators of “Peacemaker” is ex-deputy Anton Gerashchenko, who recently received a high post in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, headed by his longtime ally Arsen Avakov.
Junco reports this in press release, published on the website of a member of the Bundestag.
“Last week, I addressed the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in a personal letter. In my address, I very clearly named such topics as political repression in Ukraine and the criminal Internet site “Peacemaker,” and attached a list of political prisoners and those persecuted for political reasons. These are two big problems that the new president received as a heavy legacy from his predecessor. Without solving them, he will not be able to transform Ukraine into a democratic state,” says Andrei Hunko, a member of the Bundestag with Ukrainian roots.
Former political prisoner and journalist from Zaporozhye Pavel Volkov, in a publication on the social network Facebook, reports that the Bundestag deputy attached to his appeal a list of political prisoners and those persecuted for political reasons in Ukraine compiled by an initiative group of Ukrainian citizens.
Volkov writes: “Previously, our initiative group sent an open letter to the Office of President Zelensky with signatures of respected people of Ukraine and abroad with a request to stop political persecution in Ukraine. However, the appeal was forwarded by the Office of the President to the Prosecutor General's Office, and from there to the SBU, and as of now has not received any official response. We hope that Andrei Hunko’s efforts will help draw the president’s attention to the above problem.”
The list of political prisoners, sent to Zelensky’s office again, was updated in accordance with the exchange that took place and changes in the preventive measure for some of the criminally prosecuted individuals. At the same time, political repression has not yet been left behind for any of those persecuted - even those who took part in the exchange can be put on the wanted list and convicted in absentia in Ukraine.
Andrei Khunko believes that Zelensky should stop political repression and close the scandalous “Peacemaker”:
“I expect from Vladimir Zelensky that he will stop politically motivated processes, strictly condemn the activities of Myrotvorets, direct his efforts to remove the site and take legal measures against its administrators.
This site is a tool to intimidate Ukrainian society. My name is also included in the category “Purgatory”, which I, of course, consider a direct threat and a call for politically motivated violence.
This is how “Peacemaker” responded to the delivery of humanitarian aid to a children’s hospital in Gorlovka, which I organized in 2015 together with Wolfgang Gehrke. However, for people in Ukraine the situation is even worse. The website contains their personal information, as well as the personal information of their family members, such as place of residence and passport number. Thus, these people are declared outlaws and are in immediate danger. This makes me very worried."
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