A Ukrainian human rights activist said on Friday the authorities were harassing him and his group for protecting Eastern Europe's largest Somali community from abuse in the city of Vinnytsya.
Dmytro Groisman, chairman of Vinnytsya Human Rights Group, said police had seized the group’s equipment and documents and subjected him and his colleagues to regular questioning over an anti-pornography investigation.
"Our activities have been completely brought to a halt," Groisman told Reuters by telephone from Vinnytsya.
"I think the reason is … that our work has crossed the path of corrupt police … Pornography is just an excuse."
Police in Vinnytsya declined to comment on Groisman’s case.
The police investigation is linked to a widely circulated video "of Russian politicians engaging in sexual acts" posted on Groisman’s private blog, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday.
Groisman said his group, a non-governmental organisation recognised by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was helping Somali refugees who had been arriving in Vinnytsya since 2001, fleeing the war-torn African state.
Ukraine’s opposition has accused President Viktor Yanukovich of cracking down on media and political freedoms since coming to power in February, an allegation he denies.
