Despite the “dictatorial” laws of January 16, 2014, were formally repealed, the authorities try to apply them de-facto
A number of NGOs have received a demand from investigative bodies of the tax police to provide information on whether they duly used the grants received from the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) in 2010 – 2013.
Similar demands from investigative bodies of the taxation authority and the Ministry of the Interior came to many other NGOs and individual collaborators of the IRF. The IRF Executive Director has received a summons to be interrogated as a witness in a case that investigates alleged violations by the NGOs and the IRF.
There is no doubt that neither the IRF nor the partner NGOs have committed any wrongdoing. Evidently, the investigative bodies serve in this case only as obedient performers of a political order given by the Ukrainian authorities.
Despite the “dictatorial” laws of January 16, 2014, were formally repealed, the authorities try to apply them de-facto with the help of groundless criminal persecution of civil society organizations and their donors.
We believe that no matter how much the investigators fantasize they will be unable to find any mansions, businesses and assets owned by civic activists and the IRF staff, contrary to the political and direct sponsors of the case and their relatives, which, unlike us, own vast assets that greatly exceed their officials income declarations. Instead investigation into deeds of real power-endowed criminals, the investigative bodies waste taxpayers’ money for searching civil society representatives to blame for protests against corrupt top-ranking officials.
Ukraine today needs a real dialogue that includes the civil society, on the urgent issues that have caused the deepest political crisis and confrontation in its history. Instead, the authorities talk the language of force to the Maidan, and use the language of writs dating back to the worst times and examples of authoritarianism to talk to the civil society.
The government-sponsored criminal investigations are yet another inapt attempt to hinder activities of NGOs and the IRF as a major donor to Ukrainian non-profits, well-known throughout the country and internationally.
The IRF continues to operate to support an open, democratic society in Ukraine regardless of any attempts of the authorities to impede that.
The political regime’s current futile attempts to repress the Ukrainian civil society are doomed to fail.
We expect that the civil society and politicians in Ukraine, as well as the international community, will respond adequately to those overtly authoritarian actions by the Ukrainian authorities.
Yevhen Bystrytsky
Executive Director
International Renaissance Foundation
Contacts:
International Renaissance Foundation
Stanislav Lyachynsky
+380 95 276 89 92
pr@irf.ua
