On February 9, 2014, 23 Maidans across the country adopted a statement in support of the hostages taken by the government. This was the first coordinated action by all of the Maidans.
Statement by the Ukrainian Euromaidans
Today hundreds of our friends, relatives, and loved ones are being kidnapped and held hostage by the government. They are being grabbed at home, on the streets, and even in hospital wards. They are beaten, tortured and humiliated, even if they’re wounded. They are being held in prisons, garages, and cellars or placed under house arrest. They’re being intimidated by verdicts in the courts as well as physical threats. And yet, [the government] is cynically offering to exchange their freedom for our obedience.
The government in power uses terror, but we have no intention of negotiating with terrorists. We will do everything possible to ensure that the prisoners are released without any exceptions or conditions. And we will punish everyone responsible, regardless of the positions, ranks or authorities they may use to cover up their crimes.
The people of Ukraine are being hunted down on account of actions taken by the Parliament of Ukraine. On January 16, 2014, Members of Parliament, lead by Deputy Speaker Ihor Kaletnik, unleashed a wave of massive repression by voting through a package of repressive and antidemocratic laws.
We blame everyone who participated in this criminal act of the state and all Members of Parliament and parliamentary staff who did not oppose it.
We blame those who, hiding behind a police uniform or a prosecutor’s certificate, of capturing, torturing, and holding people captive and fabricating cases and evidence against them.
We blame those who, wearing a judge’s robe, invoke the law to legalize the kidnapping and detention of hostages.
We know all of the criminals by name. They all live among us, and they will not escape punishment. Those who carried out orders will be held accountable just like those who issued them.
The International Criminal Court does not have a limitation period for crimes against humanity. Until then, in addition to the justice that you have allowed to be raped, there is also the judgment of mankind.
All hostages must be released, all of the cases against them must be closed, and all of the missing must be found and released, with no exceptions or conditions. They cannot be the subject of any trade, regardless of whatever “laws” to this effect have been adopted by Parliament.
Remember how Ukrainians responded to repression after January 16? The uprising in Kyiv quickly grew and spread to the entire country. It is better not to test our patience.
Take note once and for all: prisons will never become a symbol of our state.
And do not forget how the storming of Bastille became the symbol of one of the biggest revolutions in Europe – the French Revolution. Ukrainians today are showing themselves to be strong supporters of European values.
Remember – when a nation is stripped of all of its rights, it has a right to rebel. And we will use this right!
Adopted by the Maidans in the cities of Kryviy Rih, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolayiv, Kirovohrad, Vinnytsia, Zaporozhia, Kramatorsk, Kherson, Khmelnitskiy, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Berdiansk, Berezhany, Kalush, Pereyaslav-Khmelnytskiy, Simferopol, Monastyryska, Noviy Rozdil, Dolyna, Kremenchuk, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv.
Source: civicua.org (Hromadskiy Prostir)
Translated by Lesia Stangret
