Similar demands from investigative bodies of the
taxation authority and the Ministry of the Interior came to many other NGOs and
individual collaborators of the IRF. The IRF Executive Director has received a
summons to be interrogated as a witness in a case that investigates alleged
violations by the NGOs and the IRF.

There is no doubt that neither the IRF nor the partner
NGOs have committed any wrongdoing. Evidently, the investigative bodies serve
in this case only as obedient performers of a political order given by the
Ukrainian authorities. 

Despite the
“dictatorial”
laws
of
Jan. 16, 2014, were
formally repealed,
the
authorities try
to
apply
them
de-facto with the help of groundless criminal persecution of civil society organizations and their donors.

We believe that no matter how much the investigators
fantasize they will be unable to find any mansions, businesses and assets owned
by civic activists and the IRF staff, contrary to the political and direct
sponsors of the case and their relatives, which, unlike us, own vast assets
that greatly exceed their officials income declarations. Instead investigation
into deeds of real power-endowed criminals, the investigative bodies waste
taxpayers’ money for searching civil society representatives to blame for
protests against corrupt top-ranking officials.

Ukraine today needs a real dialogue that includes the
civil society, on the urgent issues that have caused the deepest political
crisis and confrontation in its history. Instead, the authorities talk the
language of force to the Maidan, and use the language of writs dating back to
the worst times and examples of authoritarianism to talk to the civil society.

The government-sponsored criminal investigations are
yet another inapt attempt to hinder activities of NGOs and the IRF as a major
donor to Ukrainian non-profits, well-known throughout the country and
internationally.

The IRF continues to operate to support an open, democratic
society in Ukraine regardless of any attempts of the authorities to impede
that.

The
political regime’s current futile attempts to repress the Ukrainian civil society are doomed to fail.

We
expect
that
the
civil
society and
politicians in
Ukraine,
as
well
as
the
international community,
will
respond adequately to
those
overtly authoritarian actions by
the
Ukrainian authorities.