Oleksandr Danylyuk, the leader of radical anti-government group Spilna Sprava is in London, according to a status update he made more than an hour ago on his Facebook page.
The 32-year-old EuroMaidan activist and Kyiv-educated lawyer wrote that when he learned of his pending “arrest and further incarceration or torture…I changed clothes, and without notifying my security detail, went into hiding and left Khreshchatyk Street (main thoroughfare in Kyiv). After a few days of hiding, I crossed the border at night by foot. Today I finally made it to London. I’ll have to coordinate (the group’s efforts) in exile.”
Danylyuk’s organization came under severe criticism from authorities and the political opposition after it occupied three national government buildings last week deemed strategically important: Agricultural, Energy and Justice ministries.
The group eventually vacated the buildings but not before causing a stir. Justice Minister Olena Lukash had threatened to demand that the National Security Council impose a state of emergency in the country. Detractors of Spilna Sprava branded the group as “provocateurs.”
Police issued a warrant for his arrest still on Jan. 24, the day they say he went missing. However, Danylyuk was active on Facebook and accessible by mobile phone unitl Jan. 28.
His wife and son flew to London on Jan. 27.
He is wanted on suspicion of “organizing riots that caused the death of people or serious harm to them,” reads the Interior Ministry’s database of wanted people. The offense carries up to 15 years behind bars.
According to the EuroMaidan public relations service, there are some 30 activists missing. Several have been kidnapped, one of whom ended up dead. Two known kidnapping victims who survived their ordeals emerged badly injured.
One victim, leading AutoMaidan activist Dmytro Bulatov, was held in captivity and tortured for eight days. He was mutilated, beaten and crucified. Bulatov flew to Vilnius tonight via Riga, Latvia, a Facebook post says by leading opposition lawmaker Petro Poroshenko, reportedly to avert criminal charges that he participated in a riot and to seek medical care for his injuries.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
