You're reading: Transparency International Ukraine head receives court summons for retrial

While all eyes focus on the pro-European rallies that have entered their third week, some non-profit groups are feeling the pressure from law enforcement. Transparency International Ukraine (TI Ukraine) announced on Dec. 6 that its executive director, Oleksiy Khmara, received a phone call from the Kyiv Pechersk District Court the day before telling him to appear in court.

The phone call came two days after Transparency International released its
annual Corruption Perceptions Index in which Ukraine was named the most corrupt
nation in Europe and the fifth most corrupt in the Commonwealth of Independent
States.

He is now scheduled to appear on Dec. 9 for a case to be re-heard regarding
a demonstration that TI Ukraine held in July near the Presidential
Administration building. The demonstration took place despite an earlier court
ruling that banned protests near the Presidential Administration building on
Bankova Street. Its purpose was to raise awareness of the president’s 2011-2015
anti-corruption program not succeeding.

The first trial held in July was thrown out of the courtroom after it
emerged that police had filed fake reports. Khmara said he attended the first trial
hearings after which the court ordered the case to be re-investigated.  

He said the resumption of the case after six months looks rather strange
and could have “political overtone.”

Meanwhile, TI Ukraine is ready “to pay for the truth,” if the court fines them
for the presumed civil infraction. Khmara added he is ready to face the court
on Dec. 9.

“However, I don’t think TI Ukraine violated the law,” Khmara said. “At the
same time, I’m afraid that now they (the authorities) just want us to stop
reacting to the events that happened in Ukraine these (past few) days,” he
said.

TI Ukraine hasn’t remained passive during the EuroMaidan events. When riot
police officers brutally ousted the protesters on Nov. 30. TI Ukraine released
a video appeal to the public and the nation’s government. The organization publicly
accused Ukraine’s government of giving orders to disperse peaceful rallies in a
statement: “Transparency International Ukraine couldn’t keep calm as we saw
police brutality.”

TI Ukraine said it doesn’t plan to hold any rallies in the near future.
“There’re lots of people now (on Maidan Nezalezhnosti) who show their attitude
towards Ukraine’s authorities quite good. On the flipside, our organization
tries to reach out to the international community and those, who could bring
some insight on what should be done now,” Khmara said.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be
reached at
[email protected]