Andrej Hunko, Speaker for European Policy of the “Die Linke” faction in the German Bundestag and Deputy Chairman of the Unified European Left Group faction in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in a personal letter addressed the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky regarding the political repression in Ukraine and the existence of the “Mirotvorets” website, where the personal data of citizens objectionable to the regime were illegally published, some of whom were subsequently killed or attacked. One of the curators of “Mirotvorets” is former deputy Anton Gerashchenko, who recently received a high post in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, headed by his long-time associate Arsen Avakov.
Hunko reported this in a press release published on the website of the Bundestag Deputy.
“Last week I addressed the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in a personal letter. In my address, I clearly mention such topics like political repression in Ukraine and the criminal website ‘Mirotvorets’, and attached a list of political prisoners and persons persecuted for political reasons. These are two big problems that the new president received as a tough legacy from his predecessor. Without solving them, he will not be able to transform Ukraine into a democratic state,” says Andrej Hunko, deputy of the Bundestag with Ukrainian roots.
Former political prisoner and journalist from Zaporozhye Pavel Volkov in a publication on Facebook reported that the Bundestag Deputy attached to his appeal a list of political prisoners and persons persecuted for political reasons in Ukraine, compiled by an initiative group of Ukrainian citizens.
Volkov writes: “Earlier our initiative group sent to the Office of President Zelensky an open letter with the signatures of respected people in Ukraine and abroad with a request to stop political persecution in Ukraine. However, the appeal was transferred by the Office of the President to the Prosecutor General’s Office, and from there to the Security Service, and as of now has received no official reaction. We hope that the efforts of Andrej Hunko will help to draw the attention of the President to the above-mentioned problem.”
The list of political prisoners sent to Zelensky ‘s office was updated in accordance with the exchange and changes made to the measure of restraint imposed on some of the persecuted persons. At the same time, none of the persecuted have seen the last of political repression – even those who took part in the exchange can be put on the wanted list and convicted in absentia in Ukraine.
Andrej Hunko believes that Zelensky should stop political repression and close the controversial “Mirotvorets”:
“I expect Vladimir Zelensky to stop politically motivated processes, to strictly condemn the activities of Mirotvorets, to direct his efforts towards removing the website, and to take legal measures against its administrators.
This website is used as a tool to intimidate Ukrainian society. My name is also included under the heading ‘Purgatory,’ which I, of course, consider to be a direct threat and a call to commit politically motivated violence.
This is how “Mirotvorets” reacted to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the children’s hospital in Gorlovka, which I organised with Wolfgang Gehrcke in 2015. For people in Ukraine, however, the situation is even worse. The website contains their personal information, as well as the personal information of their family members, such as their place of residence and passport number. In this way, these people are outlawed and in immediate danger. It’s causing me a lot of anxiety.”
Valeriya Evdokimova
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