If the 2004 Orange Revolution that stopped Viktor Yanukovych from taking power in a rigged presidential election was the SMS text revolution, the 2013-2014 EuroMaidan Revolution that seeks to topple him from power could be described as the YouTube, Facebook and Twitter revolution -- reflecting the evolution of technology and social media.Numerous citizen journalists -- and anyone with a smartphone and video camera -- have been chronicling the demonstrations that began on Nov. 21, along with the violent -- and thus far unsuccessful -- police attempts to break up the protests.
One of the latest entries is a YouTube video uploaded on Feb. 10.
A young woman narrates a two-minute video over footage of police beating EuroMaidan demonstrators and wounded activists such as AutoMaidan leader Dmytro Bulatov, kidnapped and beaten for more than a week, and EuroMaidan activist Mykhailo Gavryliuk, who was stripped naked by police officers who beat and humiliated him in abuse caught on video and leaked to the public.
Here is the text:
“I am the Ukrainian, the native of Kyiv. And now I am on Maidan, on the central part of my city.
“I want you to know why thousands of people all over my country are on the streets.
“There is only one reason: We want to be free from a dictatorship. We want to be free from the politicians who work only for themselves, who are ready to shoot, to beat, to injure people just for saving their money, just for saving their houses, just for saving their power.
“I want these people who are here to have dignity, who are brave, I want them to live a normal life. We are civilized people, but our government are barbarians. That’s not a Soviet Union. We want our courts not to be corrupted. We want to be free.
“I know that maybe tomorrow we will have no phone, no Internet connection and we will be alone here. And maybe police will murder us one after another, when it will be dark here.
“That’s why I ask you now to help us. We have this freedom inside our hearts. We have this freedom in our minds. And now I ask you to build this freedom in our country. You can help us only by telling this story to your friends, only by sharing this video. Please share it. Speak to your friends, speak to your family, speak to your government and show that you support us.”
The video ends with this message:
“Please contact your representatives and demand they support the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom and democracy. Before it’s too late. This video was made in early February 2014. Hopefully thanks to you and the strong people of Ukraine, things will get better.”
The video, uploaded by “Whisper Roar” on Feb. 10, had received less than 2,500 views as of 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 11. The woman narrating the speech, at night apparently on Kyiv’s Independence Square, is not identified in the video.
