Editor’s Note: The following article is a translation of an open letter sent by Oleksiy Cherneha to President Viktor Yanukovych.
In the letter released on Sept. 1, Cherneha, 24, accuses Ukraine’s security service, the SBU, of extracting evidence from him by physical coercion and planting evidence in his room. The SBU denies any wrongdoing.
Around 7 p.m. on Aug. 23, I was detained by SBU officers at my home in Vasylkiv, a town in Kyiv Oblast. According to the summons I was issued, I was a witness in the case of the discovery of a homemade explosive device at another address on Hrushevskogo Street in Vasylkiv.
Immediately after I was detained, I was taken to the regional SBU center where I was held without charge or sanction from the investigator or court until Aug. 27, much longer than the 72 hours allowed by law.
On Aug. 24, my residence was searched by SBU officers who, preventing me from watching, planted an unknown material similar to gunpowder and a flash drive where, I was later informed, information was found identical to that on compact disks that had been found at the place on Hrushevskogo Street.
Three others accused with author Oleksiy Cherneha are (from left) Serhiy Bezv, Volodymyr Shpara and Ihor Mosichuk. Authorities suspect them of plotting terrorism with bombs. (www.vasilkov.info)
While I was at the regional SBU center, I was questioned around the clock. During the interrogation, physical methods were used against me repeatedly – I was beaten on my neck and the soft parts of the body, forced to do the splits, humiliated, threatened with physical violence and also mocked with accusations of pedophilia.
The SBU officers also tried to force me to give untruthful evidence against my acquaintances Volodymyr Mykolaiovych Shpara, Serhiy Vasyliovych Bezv and Ihor Volodymyrovych Mosichuk. After I had refused to give this untruthful evidence, I was shackled and they continued to beat me.
For four days I was interrogated and not allowed to sleep or eat.
During the torture and humiliation I repeatedly demanded to be told my official status in the case and also information about the examination of the things found at my place during the search. But I received no answer to any of my questions. I was also refused a meeting with my lawyer, and all interrogations happened without his presence.
While I was in custody, I informed the SBU that I had been diagnosed with epilepsy and that the doctors had recommended that I stick to a sleep pattern and eat regularly, because not to do so could affect my health and even lead to death.
However, the SBU officers ignored this and for four days I was interrogated without sleep or food. Such behavior is a flagrant violation of human rights and guarantees of respect for dignity contained in the Constitution.
During interrogation on Aug. 25, SBU officers forced a compact disk into my hand which had allegedly been found at the place on Hrushevskogo Street on Aug. 22.
There, like at my residence, the SBU alleged it had found information about assembling a homemade explosive device and a video of child pornography.
Afterward I was told they had “evidence” against me and in a similar way they could create any “evidence,” and for this not to happen I had to write that my acquaintances Shpara and Bevz had left the things in my room that had been found during the search.
When I refused, painful injuries were inflicted on me.
During the interrogations, SBU officers constantly expressed nostalgia for the Soviet Union, the KGB and the repressions of the 1930s, carried out by the NKVD, a predecessor of the KGB. They said that, in those times, we would have been shot without trial or investigation.
The SBU officers, who accused us of violating Ukraine’s constitutional order, made frank statements in which they insulted the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian people and expressed a desire for the uniting of Ukraine and Russia.
On the night of Aug. 26, I was informed that I would be released if I signed a few documents. I was forced to sign a letter to the head of the SBU saying that no physical coercion had been applied to me and that I voluntarily consented to give evidence from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27.
I assert that all signatures that I made during that time were extracted in ways banned by the Code of Criminal Procedure.
During the search my passport was confiscated and has still not been returned to me for unknown reasons. This is also a violation of the Ukrainian constitution.
With this complaint I ask you to guarantee the safety of me and my family, as I regard threats of physical violence and pressure from SBU officers as ones that could be carried out.
I deny all the groundless accusations of participation in terrorist or any other illegal acts that could have harmed the safety of Ukrainian citizens. I assert that mmediately after the publication of this complaint I’ll be forced to go into hiding.
Oleksiy Cherneha is a member of the Patriot of Ukraine organization.
