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Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko's Plight and Euro 2012

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:12:02 +0000

There must be some corners on the web (e.g., here and here) where football fans are still having apolitical discussions of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, scheduled to take place in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 to July 1. For the past few weeks, however, the upcoming sporting event has featured prominently in arguments and discussions among those who seem more interested in the Ukrainian and European politics than sports.

Earlier this month, several European politicians, including the EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, announced their plans to boycott Euro 2012 in protest against the imprisonment of ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko. However, there is no consensus among the EU officials yet on whether “to call a political boycott of the Ukraine half of the Euro 2012 football championships.”

Tymoshenko's arrest came on August 5, 2011, a little over a month after the beginning of her first trial on June 24. She was kept at Kyiv's Lukyanivska Prison (GV texts about this facility are here and here) until December 30, when she was transferred to the Kachanivska Penal Colony in Kharkiv to serve a seven-year sentence for exceeding her powers as Prime Minister. Reports of Tymoshenko's health problems and her 20-day hunger strike have dominated the recent coverage of her case. On April 19, another trial of Tymoshenko began in Kharkiv, but she refused to attend it. The hearing of this second case, in which Tymoshenko is charged with evading taxes in the 1990s, has been postponed until late May.

While the preparation for the tournament in Ukraine was marred by a number of other controversies (e.g., the cruel treatment of stray animals; accusations of hotel price gouging; and, of all things, the threat posed by the “beautiful Ukrainian women”), this latest international scandal seems to have done the most harm to Ukraine's image so far.

On May 3, the Economist asked readers in an online poll if they supported the calls to boycott the games held in Ukraine:

The apparently brutal treatment of Yulia Tymoshenko, an imprisoned Ukrainian opposition leader, has led to calls for European leaders to stay away from Ukrainian matches in the upcoming Euro 2012 football tournament, which the country is hosting jointly with Poland.

The Economist agrees with these calls. Do you?

Of the 1,834 votes cast so far, 68 percent are in favor of the boycott and 32 percent are against it.

Odessablogger - who believes that “the football is the wrong stick to hit Ukraine with given the need for EU personalities to interact directly with the Ukrainian people” - recounted some of the examples of sports and politics “colliding” in the past, and quoted from the April 28 Der Spiegel interview [en] with boxer and politician Vitali Klitschko, who opposes the boycott of Euro 2012:

“[…] This tournament is the biggest sporting event in the history of Ukraine. It has to happen. It is even an excellent opportunity to draw the world’s attention to the maladministration in our country. […]”

Odessablogger also noted Yulia Tymoshenko's stance on the boycott:

[…] In case you are wondering, the current position taken by Ms Tymoshenko herself over the matter, is that there should not be a boycott because of her, and that the Ukrainian people should see the EU leaders in Ukraine as it will encourage them to look to the EU rather than think they have been written off. […]

Marek Siwiec, a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament, explained on his BlogActiv.eu blog why he did not support the boycott:

[…] In Poland we need to understand (and I repeated it many times) that the football championship for Ukrainians is a national question – a source of pride, regardless of political views. Ukrainians deserve to have this tournament in their country in an atmosphere of festivity, in spite of all. […]

[…] Besides, as a whole political class, just as we act together in defence of Yulia Tymoshenko, in this case we should separate sport from politics. If there was somebody in Poland who would like to take this opportunity to rob something from Ukrainians, I warn – the political costs in the mutual relations will be long lasting and serious. […]

Jonathan Hibberd of Chicken in Kiev wrote about Germany's stance on Euro 2012 in Ukraine:

Merkel boycotts Ukraine? Business as usual.

Germany has been boycotting Ukraine's interests for some time. […]

[…] Germany should in fact, albeit indirectly, accept some responsibility for what has happened here since 2010. As one leading commentator said a couple of years back, it would have meant an awful lot if Chancellor Merkel had come to Kiev and made a speech in support of Ukraine's European ambitions. Don't forget how narrowly Tymoshenko lost the Presidential election. German endorsement of a European and Euro-Atlantic choice for Ukraine might well have been enough to swing the election for her, but instead it was held against a background of resignation, that Europe didn't want Ukraine and rapprochement with Russia was paramount. Merkel was not there for her then. […]

At OpenDemocracy.net, Valery Kalnysh, deputy editor of the Kommersant Ukraina newspaper, shared this possible explanation for the German leader's position:

[…] But why, on the other hand, is Germany so active in taking up the cudgels against Ukraine? During the course of a conversation, a German journalist commented ‘It’s quite easy for Merkel to attack Ukraine and demand respect for human rights. Unlike Russia, you have no oil or gas and you’re not as strong and influential as China. It’s convenient to criticise Ukraine and it does great things for [her] popularity rating.’ […]

LEvko of Foreign Notes explained “why Ukraine's Euro 2012 [would] not be as big a success as hoped”:

[…] In previous tournaments, in my experience, many fans have made an extended holiday of their visits to countries hosting such events; days between matches being spent on the beach, sightseeing, etc. etc. In countries such as Austria/Switzerland or Portugal, where tourism is highly developed, this was an attractive proposition..but, no disrespect intended…Kharkiv? Dontesk?

Europe is currently in the deepest economic crisis since WW2. There is little cash around..not enough to pay the Ukraine's rip-off hotel prices.

Then there's the Olympic games in London later in the year - an attractive draw for sports fans.

[…] But the tsunami of bad press in Europe's mass media over the Tymoshenko affair will be the final turn-off. Fans will rather stay at home, or, at best, fly in and out for matches, just like they do for European club matches.. […]

Olga Mrinska of Regional Accents reflected [uk] on the Euro 2012 boycott scandal in the context of the general social and political situation in Ukraine:

[…] The repressive race aimed at the opposition leaders has reached its apogee in the past year, and domestic politics has become the center of attention of world leaders. […] Today's Ukraine is, above all, associated with the jailed opposition, lack of freedom of speech, kleptomaniac and lying officials. Our president must have naively (???) believed that [it's possible to endlessly mislead these “spineless” European leaders and feed them with “mañana” [empty promises] at any mention of the democratic reforms - the leaders who live in ordinary houses in the city center (Germany), ride bicycles (the Netherlands), fly regular commercial flights (Finland) and have incomparably fewer guards that he does (choose any EU country).] And when these Europeans have finally stood up […], [the Ukrainian leaders began talking] of the Cold War era and bias. In my opinion, this is a lousy excuse…

The problem isn't with the Europeans, but with the Ukrainians - the voters who have brought to power people without the intellect, without a strategic vision and without the belief in the better future for the country and its people. The problem is with the so-called elite that, just like those hotel owners, lives only in the present, without giving any thought to the future.

Despite the avalanche of negative information about Ukraine in the world media, justified in most cases, we still have a chance to [show Ukraine in a positive light] to those football fans who would attend the Euro. Out people are the last frontier and the last hope. The end result and the final assessment of the event depends on their open-mindedness, decency and hospitality. […]

Finally, a few words about the aspect of Euro 2012 that has gone largely unnoticed - [the view that the Ukrainians themselves have of the event]. Five years ago, we were promised an ocean of private investments, a new and shining infrastructure that would serve host cities for decades, an influx of tourists and billions for the economy. Instead, residents of Kyiv and other cities have experienced mainly negative consequences - destruction of parks, totally dug-up cities, closed streets, altered public transportation routes, […], growing prices, etc. […]

Ukraine, France: The Future of Franco-Ukrainian Relationship

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:01:41 +0000

Odessablogger comments on the statements made by Ukrainian political scientists regarding the future of the Franco-Ukrainian relationship following the election of François Hollande as the President of France.

Ukraine: “If Prison Acquires a Voice, Everything Will Change”

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:16:51 +0000

On April 2, the Ukrainian TV channel TVi aired Kostiantyn Usov's documentary [uk, ru] about Kyiv's Lukyanivska prison, highlighting the shocking treatment and living conditions of the inmates and drawing attention to the widespread corruption of the facility's staff (GV text about it is here).

The documentary, which has caused much outrage and debate in the past month, is now translated into English and available with subtitles on YouTube.

Usov has shared the link to the film's English version on various social networks and online media platforms, including his Facebook page [uk]. User Natalia Vorotchenko posted this comment [uk]:

[…] You've done a tremendous job… and the English translation allows even more people - those abroad - to see the truth! Step by step, blows are being dealt to the regime of the communists and the oligarchs, and I hope that it will soon vanish… And this will happen in large part thanks to your work, your stance and your heroism! […]

In the April 19 interview [ru] with Vecherniye Vesti newspaper, Usov talked about the steps being taken by the authorities since the film's release. According to him, the acting head of Lukyanivska has been forced to resign; the government has allotted 1.5 million hryvnias (approx. $185,000) for repairs inside the facility; the prosecutor's office is investigating all the violations mentioned in the film; the prison's authorities have confirmed that the walls of the cells are covered with harmful fungus.

Much of the footage in Usov's film comes from those Lukyanivska inmates who had agreed to take risks and help document their lives, using mobile phones smuggled inside the prison via bribe-taking prison employees, an illegal yet routine practice at this and other facilities. In the Vecherniye Vesti interview, Usov claimed that the “shadow” profits of Lukyanivska's staff involved in illegal transactions with the inmates and their contacts outside amounted to 1.5 million hryvnias a week. On Facebook, where Usov shared the link to the interview, user Juriy Prohorov wrote [ru]:

Every lawyer and anyone who's ever had to deal in some way with the Ukrainian legal system knows everything that [Usov] has told about in his film, and everyone from inmates to prison guards are fine with it… But [Usov] deserves credit for saying it all openly… […]

On April 21, Usov noted [uk] on Facebook that “for the first time in 20 years, Ukrainian prison officials have started addressing inmates [using the formal, respectful form of the ‘you' pronoun]:

[…] Yes, it may seem like no big deal to some. But in fact this is the breakthrough moment.

On his Ukrainska Pravda blog, journalist Artem Shevchenko, one of Usov's film crew members, shared his views [uk] on the film's significance:

[…] It appears that [the film is relevant now] because, due to the regime's politics, prison is gradually turning into a self-sufficient actor in [Ukraine's] social and political life. There is no doubt that prison is one of the factors of today's public politics. Prison [features in top news in the media]. Some are intimidating others with prison. Others are proud of [their prison experience]. [Inmate transportation vehicles] are the most popular cars of the 2010-2011-2012 season. […] By jailing his main political opponents, President [Victor Yanukovych] seems to be catering to the complexes of his youth, which he [acquired behind bars]. A young person's mentality, maimed by prison experience, cannot be any different. When such a person gains power, [he/she] subconsciously starts building a prison [outside the prison walls].

Blogger and activist Aleksandr Volodarskiy [ru] (aka shiitman) spent a month and a half at Lukyanivska prison in 2009. He was detained for “hooliganism” [en] after imitating a sexual intercourse outside the Ukrainian Parliament on Nov. 2, 2009, as part of a protest against censorship by the Ukrainian National Expert Commission for Protection of Public Morality [ru] (www.moral.gov.ua [uk]). In early April, he wrote two blog posts about Usov's documentary, explaining how the Ukrainian prison system works and why the film might do more harm than good to those kept in detention - and suggesting ways to improve the situation. Below are excerpts from these posts.

April 5, 2012 [ru]:

[…] The prison is indeed like this, only worse.

They didn't show the “boxes” where people who are being transferred to courts/police stations and back are kept for hours. Tiny boxes with no air to breathe and often no place to sit, at times packed with dozens of people. Also not reflected is, to my mind, the key issue: IMPOSSIBILITY of communicating legally. You can't call a lawyer unless you use a banned mobile phone. The lawyer has to take initiative and come to the inmate [him/herself]. A question arises: how will the lawyer learn about violation of the client's rights if the client has no right to get in touch with [the lawyer]? Similarly, inmates cannot get in touch with family in order to ask them to send some specific food or medicines. If a person gets sick, he should wait for his lawyer's visit, to share his complaints with him, and the lawyer would then share them with family members. One can die of pneumonia a few times during this period. If you want to survive, you'll have to use the phone - local doctors can at best offer aspirin. That is, this system initially includes corruption. […]

I'm afraid that the first result of Usov's investigation will be (or is already) a mass [search] and confiscation of phones from all cells. The cops' first reaction to any information leak is an attempt to deal with the source of this leak. They won't be solving problems by themselves - because they themselves are the problem. […]

April 7, 2012 [ru]:

[…] Many influential [inmates] don't really need things to be “in accordance with the law.” […] They need personal comfort. [Drugs and alcohol]. Things that no one will ever legalize in prison.

For that they are quite ready to tolerate beatings, anti-sanitary conditions, diseases, and the necessity to be humiliated by the cops and to pay them. […] The same type of logic works in the society as a whole. People don't want a revolution and radical changes, they are genuinely afraid of them. Because revolution inevitably causes the government's reaction that may affect not just the revolutionaries. And in general - who knows what happens after this revolution - while even though there's evil all around now, this evil is familiar. […]

Usov's mistake is that he decided to entertain the ordinary [viewers] with exotica. […] He has dealt a tremendous blow to the prison corruption infrastructure, which is not only feeding the cops, but is helping people to survive here and now. […] It's not right to sacrifice the people, not right to throw noncombatants into the line of fire.

[…]

The only way to make sure these people haven't suffered in vain is to raise two important questions:

1. Lifting the limitations on meetings, packages and correspondence for the inmates. These limitations don't contribute to finding the truth, they should be seen as a type of torture.
2. Legalization of phone connection (technically, it can be easily done by providing each cell with a couple of cell phones […])

This is something that has to be discussed at all levels now. Not the “corruption” and not even the “fungus.”

Having a legal connection with the outside world, the inmates will get a chance to talk about what's going on in prison.

If prison acquires a voice, everything will change.

Ukraine: Netizens Discuss Dnipropetrovsk Bombings

Veronica Khokhlova — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:53:37 +0000

On Friday April 27, 2012, at least 27 people were injured in the four midday explosions in public spaces in the center of Dnipropetrovsk. The blasts were qualified as terror attacks by the Ukrainian authorities, who said six possible scenarios [uk] were being investigated, but provided few details.

Online, there has been a great deal of speculation about the bombings. The timing of the tragedy is key to most of the popular theories, as Ukraine is going through a very eventful period right now. Below are the highlights:

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, which Ukraine is hosting together with Poland, is just six weeks away (Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the host cities, however);
Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko, a native of Dnipropetrovsk, is serving a disputed jail sentence, and reports of her mistreatment - as well as photos of her bruises - have been drawing much attention and negative response both at home and abroad;
The economic and social situation in the country is precarious, and the growing tensions aren't likely to be diffused anytime soon, as various political forces are busy preparing for the October 28 parliamentary elections;
Just two weeks ago, on April 14 [uk], Dnipropetrovsk was in the spotlight domestically, when a well-known local businessman, Gennadiy Akselrod, was shot to death. The previous attempt on his life, in September 2010 [uk], was unsuccessful - back then, a bomb went off at a local restaurant, injuring Akselrod's business partner, Gennadiy Korban. (On a related note, in October 2009 [ru], another Dnipropetrovsk explosion took the life of one of Korban's business partners, Vyacheslav Braginskiy.)

Time will tell whether any of it has anything to do with the Dnipropetrovsk blasts, but right now it is proving hard to discuss the bombings without taking into account the points mentioned above, one way or another.

Journalist Vakhtang Kipiani wrote this [uk] on Facebook:

Tymoshenko's bruises and the blasts in Dnipropetrovsk are good enough arguments for those Europeans who haven't made up their minds yet on whether to come to Ukraine or not.

On his Ukrainska Pravda blog, Yevhen Ikhelzon wrote this [ru]:

[…] Ukraine has been living [in “terror”] for approximately a year now - there's no place for justice here, politics has drowned in lies and corruption […].

The bruises on Tymoshenko's body and the blasts in Dnipropetrovsk are just an external manifestation of this “terror” […]. For the first time we've found ourselves in a situation when the blasts were directed at random people - and this is terrorism. Regardless of whether the motives were political or criminal.

We are against terror, we want a peaceful life […]. Since we do have the elected authorities, our demands to them are simple - DO NOT TERRORIZE US. If they are unable to deliver, they should leave their posts of their own accord, before people with pitchforks [force them out].

I'm far from accusing the president or the government of being behind the terror attacks - there's no evidence to prove it whatsoever. But since everyone has been thinking in this direction all at once, there's only one answer - [the regime] has done a lot for this to happen.

[…]

If I were in Ukraine right now, I'd start organizing a rally “against terror.” And I'd recommend that the opposition took part in organizing it, instead of blaming the regime. [A rally] against the bruises and the blasts.

LJ user urobor posted his ideas [ru] on how the situation in Dnipropetrovsk could have been useful to the Ukrainian regime:

[…] It's all coming together too smoothly. As soon as [ex-ombudsperson Nina Karpachova] has [made public the photos] confirming the beating of Tymoshenko (around 11 am), as soon as the protesters visited [the Presidential Administration in Kyiv] (11 am-noon) - suddenly there are the explosions, the injured, the announcement of a “terrorist threat,” mobile connection is shut off, [armored personnel vehicles and snipers are in]…

[…]

All this seems like a good practice [rehearsal].

Let's assume that the situation for the regime has become really bad and mass protests start in Kyiv… Suddenly, a few garbage bins explode on Khreshchatyk [Kyiv's main street], one after another. The city's center is immediately blocked, mobile connection and internet are turned off, armed troops enter the city […]. Even if [the Parliament] is blocked [by the opposition] at his moment, an extraordinary session is summoned and state of emergency is declared… […]

LJ user nogitsunee commented on LJ user urobor's conspiracy theory:

In Belarus, a similar story took place in April last year [the Minsk metro bombing of April 11, 2011]

LJ user urobor replied:

Yes, I do remember it. It was at that very time that the sudden economic decline began, causing discontent. And suddenly - boom! - maybe it was also a coincidence…

On Facebook, Alex Zakletsky posted this assessment [uk] of potential “suspects”:

[…] 1. Separatists. We have a few of them in the Crimea and Transcarpathia. In my opinion, neither group is capable of anything like this.
2. Religious fanatics. Unlikely.
3. Business-related criminal confrontation. Doesn't look like it. During such confrontations, specific cars with specific persons get blown up, not everyone around. […]
4. A lonely maniac like Breivik. Unlikely - even the authorities admit that this was done by a group of people.
5. The opposition did it to ruin the regime's image. Absolutely illogical. The opposition doesn't have to do anything, the regime is very professional at discrediting itself.
6. A “proxy” oppositional organization's job aimed at tarnishing the image of the national opposition movement.
7. A foreign connection. The work of special services of the northern neighbor [Russia] in order to destabilize [President Victor Yanukovych's regime] even more. A possibility. […]
8. A xenophobic terrorist group's job. Unreal, I think. People of absolutely different ethnicities have been hurt.
9. A special group did this on the orders from the regime. […] a distraction manoeuvre that has allowed to appoint a new ombudsperson. Et cetera. […]

Dnipropetrovsk was trending worldwide on Twitter shortly after the explosions. Serhiy Pishkovtsiy (@blogoreader) of Watcher.com.ua posted a screenshot [uk] of Twitter's Worldwide Trends page - and tweeted this thought [uk]:

The bombs weren't big, looks like they didn't want to kill anyone, but [the goal was] to distract the people and to intimidate them […]

Dnipropetrovsk-based LJ user anchiktigra shared her thoughts and excerpts from the media and local discussion forums in this blog post [ru], both emotional and informative:

[…] Mama called from work today and said, “Anya, there were some explosions in Dnipropetrovsk, [my clients] are running late for [their appointments], check what happened on the internet. Mobile phones aren't working, streets are blocked, the police aren't allowing people to go outside.” I went online and was shocked […]. […] Ten blasts in a row. All of a sudden… […]

How are we supposed to get home from work? Everyone is sitting in their offices, inside, afraid to venture into the street. No one knows what will happen and what to expect. Everything is happening very quickly. That is, it was happening quickly, and now there's just silence and tension…

What's happening is absurd. They killed Akselrod recently, and now this. All in broad daylight. They used to assassinate only the chosen ones, and now they are hitting the masses. The bombs went off as people were getting out of the trams. Horrible.

The total of four explosions, even though they're writing about ten everywhere.

[…]

[End-of-the-day summary]

[…] 2. The exact number of blasts - more than four. This information comes from the Mechnikov Hospital staff, based on the number of patients that they are receiving.

[…]

5. If there were more than four explosions, then it is an emergency situation - what Euro-2012 are you talking about then. No, this won't do. [Let's make it look humble.] And who cares that people have been hurt…

[…]

7. I am shocked, of course. So much happened, we've been through so much during this day… And… nothing? No one needs us. Neither in this city, nor in this country. The big guys are solving their problems, playing. And we are the little mice. We've been told there were four blasts, so this is what it was, four. We've been told that this happened because of this and that… Ok, good. But how can one live peacefully if you get out of the tram - and BOOM. Just because… For no reason. […]

Odessablogger wrote this [en]:

[…] Let’s see if anyone is caught for these crimes and what they have to say – although would you believe what they have to say having been in SBU [Security Service of Ukraine] custody?

Yet another unnamed victim in all this will be trust. Trust gets a kicking in Ukraine on a daily basis. It simply no longer exists in any meaningful way between the political class (of any party) and society. It may be that the EU policy of engagement with Ukrainian civil society and not the political classes will prove to be a very smart policy move indeed.

Ukraine: Update on Yulia Tymoshenko's Case

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:06:51 +0000

Foreign Notes comments on “the latest twists and turns” in ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko's case.

Czech Republic, Ukraine: Migrant Domestic Workers' Rights

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:51:44 +0000

GV Author Tetyana Bohdanova, who blogs at Good Girl Gone Ukrainian, writes about a video created as part of the campaign [cs] for the rights and better treatment of Ukrainian migrant workers in the Czech Republic. The video [cs] shows a Czech teenager yelling at the Ukrainian cleaning lady who had misplaced his math homework; the cleaning lady, identified as Ljuba Grigorenko, ends up solving the young man's math problems very quickly: she used to work as a math teacher in Lviv before circumstances forced her to take a menial job abroad.

Ukraine: Lukyanivska Prison - “Where People Are Kept Like Animals”

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:21:59 +0000

On April 2, 2012, the Ukrainian TV channel TVi aired Kostiantyn Usov's documentary [uk, ru] about living conditions and treatment of inmates at Kyiv's Lukyanivska prison (known in Ukrainian as Lukyanivsky SIZO, or remand prison), as well as widespread corruption among the facility's staff.

The film, which is available on YouTube, includes mobile phone footage made surreptitiously by a number of inmates over the past few months at the journalist's request.

Many of those who have already watched Usov's documentary were shocked by what they saw, to say the least.

LEvko of the English-language Foreign Notes blog wrote this in a post entitled, “The hell-hole that is Lukyaniv prison”:

The brave investigative journalist Konstyantyn Usov from TVi recently managed to smuggle several mobile phones into the notorious Lukyaniv investigative isolation unit where [ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko] was detained, and where [ex-minister of internal affairs Yuriy Lutsenko] is still being held. His nightmarish television documentary can be seen here….

The conditions in some of the cells are unimaginably bad…diabolical…don't watch it before going to bed…

Remember, the inmates shown have not been tried or sentenced - many may be innocent but may nevertheless be detained there for years….

It is difficult to accept that human beings can be so maltreated in a state institution in the capital city of a European democracy in the 21st century.. utterly and absolutely shameful. […]

Lukyanivska prison gained some international exposure last year, when ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko was placed there during her trial. The Guardian's Miriam Elder described the detention facility on October 16, 2011:

[…] Tymoshenko remains inside Lukyanivska, which functions mainly as a pre-trial detention centre. She shares a 15 sq m space with two other women, both awaiting charges on economic crimes.

There is a small window, covered with three sets of bars. There is no hot water and the thick walls of the 19th-century prison keep its interior cold and damp. Tymoshenko spends her days reading. […]

In December 2011, a leaked video showing Tymoshenko at the medical wing of Lukyanivska prison was aired on TV and shared on social networks in Ukraine. Reuters reported on December 15:

[…] The video clip was one of two aired on TV with the apparent aim of showing Tymoshenko was being well treated and living in conditions akin to those of a good hotel.

[…]

In the video, prison guards are actively helping the cameraman to shoot the film, even holding back a keyhole cover into the room for him.

The 51-year-old Tymoshenko, who was mostly covered by bed-clothes, was clearly unhappy at being filmed, though her words were not audible.

In another part of the footage, which showed a well-furnished room with a refrigerator, Tymoshenko can be heard saying: “I was being kept before in unacceptable conditions and I don't want you to show this false picture now.” […]

In his documentary, Kostiantyn Usov shows the Lukyanivska prison the way it really is, as a place where thousands of Ukrainians with no access to domestic or international media spend years living in overcrowded, subhuman conditions as they await their verdicts. He wrote this [uk] about the making of the film on his blog at Ukrainska Pravda:

Lukyanivsky SIZO. A place where people are kept as animals.

Lukyanivska prison is a facility of preliminary detention. To be staying in its dark cells isn't a punishment, but a preventive measure. That is, any suspect can be locked up here, and in contemporary Ukraine it absolutely does not mean that one has to be a real criminal.

[Lukyanivska prison] occupies the first place in the number of reports of cruelty, torture, inhuman living conditions and mysterious deaths in prison cells, and […] this is where the regime of [President Victor Yanukovych] has been [placing] its enemies - and this is why we have made it our goal to find a way to show people the real Lukyanivka. The real one, and not what they show to the select media.

We created our own network of agents inside the prison, in order to have our own people in every building, on every floor of the SIZO in a minimal period of time. From the [free outside], we [smuggled] mobile phones equipped with video cameras to each of our agents, and the inmates were sending us glimpses into their lives, little by little, 10 to 15 seconds at a time, for six months. […]

Usov has been receiving feedback on his film on his Ukrainska Pravda blog, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and elsewhere.

Many people praise Usov for his courage. On YouTube, user slafkorood wrote [uk]:

I can imagine what it took Usov and his team [to make this film], his work will never be in vain, he is a brave person, if only there were more people like him.

Many are concerned for the journalist's safety. On Facebook, Roman Plechun wrote [uk]:

Kostiantyn, aren't you afraid that “the regime” will come after you? I'd just like to understand how you found courage for this!?

YouTube user BenderZT wrote this [ru] about the main implication of the film:

A good phrase as [the film's] conclusion, that [Lukyanivska prison] is a micro-model of the country. Very sad to realize this…

Facebook user Yevgeny Titorchuk wrote [ru]:

[…] Hard to watch it and see all the horror and meaninglessness of the system that is indifferent to the human being. And the most terrible thing is that this system has been created by human beings and is being maintained by human beings too.

On Usov's Ukrainska Pravda blog, Facebook user Lyubomyr Drozdovskyy offered this explanation [uk] for the shocking cruelty of life at Lukyanivska shown in the film:

Actually, financial gain [of the prison staff] isn't the only reason for such horrible conditions at the SIZO. The other goal of the SIZO is to create conditions so unbearable that a person would be basically begging to be transferred to [the real prison], where the conditions are somewhat better after all. Say, there is someone whose case lacks any evidence needed to prove guilt, but [the authorities need to convict this person for their own benefit, to improve the statistics of solved cases, for example]. So they put this person into the SIZO, and after a few months of what in fact is torture, [he or she] is ready to testify against [him/herself], submit a self-incriminating statement, admit guilt completely - just to have a chance to get out of the SIZO, even if it means getting out to [prison].

In another comment on Usov's Ukrainska Pravda blog, user skilachi wrote this [uk]:

Almost everything is the way it was eight years ago. I still remember each of the 254 days [that I spent there]. […] Upon my release I wished for this: that every future employee of the [Ministry of Internal Affairs], prosecutor's office, court or any other entity that locks people up, had an “internship” for at least a few months at this facility prior to [assuming their positions in law enforcements and the judiciary]. Maybe then they'd view the use of preventive measures towards suspects and the accused differently. But this is just [wishful thinking]. To those who have been through this hell, my best wishes of health. To those who fail to avoid this, remember to always remain human beings.

There seems to have been no reaction from the authorities to Usov's film yet. The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, however, issued a statement [uk] through its press service on April 2, which reads like a “preemptive strike” type of message to journalists like Usov:

Kyiv SIZO - the most interesting facility for the mass media

Recently, there have been more and more information, commentaries and random stories appearing in the mass media about the work of the [Penitentiary Service] facilities. The majority of these stories comment on the conditions in which the arrested and convicted persons are being kept, as well as on the actions by the penitentiary facilities' staff.

The analysis of the publications and [films] shows lack of competence and objectivity, and sometimes outright unhidden bias of the journalists […]. Due to this, [penitentiary service representatives] systematically refute the published information or provide additional commentary on it. […]

As for Lukyanivska prison's most recent international exposure, LEvko of Foreign Notes links to this Kyiv Post item on the April 3 meeting of Freedom House representatives with one of the SIZO's highest-ranking current inmates, ex-minister of internal affairs Yuri Lutsenko. LEvko writes:

[…] The Freedom House guys who visited Yuriy Lutsenko at the prison on Tuesday should check out [Usov's] video….After their visit: “The [Ukrainian] State Penitentiary Service stressed that the visitors noted that Ukraine took measures to bring conditions for detention and medical treatment for detainees in line with international standards.”

You f***ing liars…

Russia, Ukraine: “Obligatory Media Post-Mortems”

Veronica Khokhlova — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:04:08 +0000

Natalia Antonova's texts in the Moscow News, on the “disappearance” and death of 9-month-old Anya Shkaptsova and on other recent deaths of children in Bryansk, Russia, and a text in the Guardian's Comment is Free on the rape and murder of Oksana Makar in Mykolayiv, Ukraine. And a note on Natalia's blog, on what it takes to cover these topics: “[…] you write something like that, and then you need a hot shower and an opportunity to burst into tears without anyone looking. All in a week’s work.”

Ukraine: Oksana Makar's Gang Rape Case

Veronica Khokhlova — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:56:33 +0000

Foreign Notes, EUobserver.com, and Ukrainiana write about Oksana Makar's horrible gang rape case. Media mentions, updates and fundraising info [ru, uk] is here (support site), here (Vkontakte page), and here (Twitter).

Ukraine: Eurovision, Gaitana, and Racism

Veronica Khokhlova — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:22:26 +0000

Odessablog writes about the Ukrainian far right's reaction to this year's Eurovision nomination - Gaitana, a Ukrainian singer and songwriter of Ukrainian and Congolese descent: “It doesn’t matter that she was born in Kyiv, has lived there all her life, is a Ukrainian citizen, or that her mother is a Ukrainian. It matters that she is not white and therefore not representative of Ukraine it seems. At least that is the opinion of Yuri Sirotyuk who happens to be highly placed within the [Svoboda party]. In fact he stated she would get ‘Nul points' because of the colour of her skin.”

Ukraine: Parliamentary Corruption

Vilhelm Konnander — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:22:01 +0000

Taras Kuzio of Jamestown Foundation Blog writes about corruption in Ukraine's parliament and alleged preparations for election fraud.

Ukraine: Netizens React to Popular File-Sharing Website's Shutdown

Tetyana Bohdanova — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:27:18 +0000

On January 31, 2012, Ukrainian Internet users learned that the country’s biggest file-sharing site, Ex.ua [ru], was shut down due to repeated copyright violations. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, among the companies that filed a lawsuit [uk] against Ex.ua were Microsoft, Adobe, Graphisoft and others.

Ex.ua was one of the most popular websites in the country and accounted for 15-25% [uk] of Ukraine’s in-country traffic. It required no paid subscription and attracted millions of users who freely shared pirated video and audio files, games and software.

The news of the site's shutdown caused quite a stir online, with many netizens criticizing the government for going after Ex.ua and calling for its restoration.

Christina Vinovska (@chris_vinovska) tweeted a common appeal:

return #exua immediately!

While many echoed her plea, others decided to take action both offline (photos of the Feb. 1 protest in Kyiv are here) and online.

Thus, following the release of the online statement about Ex.ua's shutdown by the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry's website went down and remained periodically inaccessible due to “an increased number of visitors and possible DDoS attacks” [uk].

By that time many Twitter, Vkontakte and Facebook users were actively sharing detailed instructions [ru] on how to overload the servers of selected websites. The target list included websites of Ukraine’s President Victor Yanukovych, the pro-presidential Party of Regions, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament, and others.

What seemed to begin as a number of decentralized attempts, quickly turned into a mass organized effort, with Ex.ua supporters forming a “Free Ex.Ua” [ru] group on a popular social network Vkontakte [ru], which gathered over 6,000 members during the first hours of its existence (currently, there are over 41,000 members).

By February 1, the Presidential website was completely down [uk] and the Ministry of the Interior had to announce [uk] that it was going to use its two Facebook accounts until its official website was restored. By mid-day of February 1, Ex.ua had to appeal [ru] to users to stop the attack that succeeded in disrupting the work of nearly all major governmental websites:

Dear users,

Administrators of Ex.ua call on you to stop all illegal activity against governmental websites. […]

At the same time, a heated discussion of Ex.ua’s supposed illegal activity was taking place online.

Facebook user Sergei Sidorenko wrote [ru]:

In response to the mass mourning of the Ex.ua’s untimely death, I would tell you something different from what half of the Internet has been yelling about:

I do not have a single piece of licensed non-free software on my computer
I watch only pirated films
I jailbroke my Apple iPod soon after the purchase
Even the licensed Windows installed on my laptop I soon [removed] and installed a pirated one, because it was more convenient for me

But I have to admit that shutting down Ex.ua was the RIGHT THING. And I don’t understand those who now yell, “Yes, they were pirates, but was that a reason to close them?” […]

Guys, if we want to live a civilized [life], let’s at least not condemn the obvious attempts to establish legality.

In defense of Ex.ua, Yaroslav Fedorak of Blogosphere.com.ua wrote [uk]:

Yes, I really do believe that according to today’s legal framework, file-sharing website Ex.ua was conducting an illegal activity and sooner or later would have been closed. But don’t be too quick to throw stones at me! The problem here lies in the legal framework itself, which is hopelessly outdated and no longer meets the needs of the current super-dynamic and hyper-volatile environment.

Amidst such discussions, it was not long before Ukrainian Internet users began to question whether the authorities themselves were following the letter of the law. Giving in to increased media attention, the Ministry of the Interior had to admit [uk] that it was also using pirated software, while holding negotiations with Microsoft to end this practice. Netizens were outraged.

Yurko Chervony (@skinik) tweeted [uk]:

They should first shut themselves down, and not #ex.ua “[The Ministry of the Interior] admitted that half of the software [they're using] is illegal” tinyurl.com/7tjq7c8

Many netizens shared an online comment [uk] by Oleksandr Severyn of Maidan.org.ua:

When marauders fight with pirates, pirates become national heroes

Other netizens, however, believed that the government's action against Ex.ua was motivated not so much by the copyright violations, but by the website hosting [ru] an extremely popular parody video [uk] mocking the Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych.

Pavlo Rizanenko (@rizanenko) tweeted [uk]:

Our authorities closed #exua because they did not want to have an uncontrollable information resource on #UaNet [Ukrainian Internet – GV]. Piracy was just an excuse rizanenko.livejournal.com/983.html

Whatever the actual causes of its shutdown, following the unexpected mass reaction of Ukrainian netizens, Ex.ua was back online [ru] as early as February 3, when the investigators concluded [ru] that piracy allegations did not have to result in blocking of the site's domain name.

Many netisens viewed it as a positive case of online consolidation and organization of Ukrainians.

Serge Lavrinchuck (@Lavrinchuck) tweeted [uk]:

The #EXua story, of course, has its positive sides. When else the Ukrainian people would have united like this to attack government websites?

Numerous observers referred to the attacks as the “online revolution” [ru]. Maksym Savanevsky, editor of the Internet business and SMM website Watcher.com.ua, wrote [uk]:

What has changed in the society in the past 60 hours.

Most important: the citizens have had a taste of their victory. They have felt that “together they are many, and they cannot be defeated”. It is difficult to recall similar events since 2004 [Orange Revolution – GV].

Yes, the scope was not the same. Yes, everything happened online, inside warm apartments. But it has been a while since the authorities looked so helpless in the face of the people’s simple desire to get something they thought they deserved.

Still, others were critical of the society mobilizing in defense of a pirate website. Jouranlist Serhiy Shcherbyna wrote [ru]:

Where are you, the renowned [citizens], when honest, normal businesses are being bluntly taken from ordinary mid-level entrepreneurs? […] Why nobody touches the Tax Inspection's website for their regular [pressure] on business?

Why would you not [disable] the Interior Ministry's website when people are being killed at [local police stations]? Why would you not [disable] the Kyiv City Administration's website for [icy] roads on which people are breaking arms and legs every day?

Why are Ukrainians able to protest only when their social benefits and [free stuff] are taken away? Freedom of speech, the lawlessness of the authorities, politically-motivated [imprisonments], a half-dead economy and, most of all, a country that is nearing a collapse, all this is not causing such an outrage.

While the online polemics continue and the future fate of Ex.ua remains unclear, as of February 6, the website is operational and works on restoring its full capacity.

Ukraine: Ex.ua is Back Online

Veronica Khokhlova — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:10:32 +0000

Ex.ua, a file-sharing site that the authorities shut down two days ago, is now back online [uk], though its content is still inaccessible. @bl4ka tweets [ru]: “The DDoS revolution has won! […]” @VsemPohuy tweets [ru] about the DDoS attacks that followed the shutdown, and the situation in the country in general: “Ex.ua's back, it's now okay to stop DDoS-ing the sites of [the Interior Ministry], the president, etc. That students continue to be killed at police stations, that's [no big deal].” Journalist Pavel Sheremet writes [ru] about “the hackers' revolution”: “There was [Orange Maidan], then [“Tax Maidan”] […]. Now there's a Maidan on the internet.”

Ukraine: Government Sites Under Attack; “Freedom to Ex.ua”

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:09:21 +0000

The official websites of the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Internal Affairs Ministry, and the Party of Regions are either completely down or work with interruptions today. Some of the coordination of the collective effort to take down governmental sites, apparently in response to yesterday's shutdown of Ex.ua, seems to be taking place on the “Freedom to Ex.ua” Vkontakte page [uk, ru], which, according to Serhiy Pishkovtsiy [uk] of Watcher.com.ua blog, “gathered nearly 7,000 followers in just a few hours” today; right now, there are 19,604 followers, and this number continues to grow every minute [update: 42,126 followers on Feb. 3].

Ukraine: Authorities Shut Down File-Sharing Site Ex.ua

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:09:03 +0000

On Jan. 31, the Ukrainian authorities shut down Ex.ua, a popular file-sharing site. A selection of relevant tweets [en, uk, ru] is here: e.g., @sinplotnika [ru]: “The state has deprived you of bread, now it's also decided to take the show [entertainment] away.”; @Urshulia [uk]: “For me, the loss of Ex.ua is the loss of the alternative to TV. […]”; @rlasuria [ru]: “Is Ex.ua [shutdown] #SOPA tricks?)”. More details and comments - at TorrentFreak; reader Taras writes: “In Ukraine movie on BlueRay costs $40 when minimal salary is $120.” Following Ex.ua's shutdown, the Interior Ministry's site has been down for hours; @kotusenko wrote: “[…] is this some sort of hacker retaliation 4 ex.ua?”