Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council's permanent commission for human rights, law and order has asked the law enforcement agencies to provide comprehensive information about the arrest of members of the Tryzub (Trident) All-Ukrainian Association named after Stepan Bandera.
At its special meeting on Tuesday, the commission heard reports by representatives of the regional department of the Interior Ministry and the regional prosecutor’s office regarding the detention of the Tryzub members, the press service of Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council reported.
The press service notes that the commission also urged the law enforcement agencies to guarantee the detainees’ right to legal counsel.
Ivano-Frankivsk regional law-enforcers detained nine armed people from various regions of Ukraine – most of them being members of the Tryzub Association.
The Tryzub All-Ukrainian Association reported on Monday that some 15 members of the organization have been arrested in various regions of Ukraine in connection with the blowing up of a monument to Joseph Stalin in Zaporizhia.
As reported, unidentified people blew up a monument to Stalin on or around New Year’s night in Zaporizhia on the territory of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. The police opened a criminal case under Part 2, Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (the deliberate destruction of property). An organization calling itself the First of January Movement announced on the Internet it was responsible for blowing up the monument. After a study of the materials of the criminal case, the prosecutor’s office of Zaporizhia region re-categorized the case as a terrorist act rather than the intentional destruction of property.
