The decision to cut 503 old and tall-standing trees in Gorky Park in order to build a road and hotel facilities on park territory was adopted by the Kharkiv City Executive Committee on May 19. Men were sent to carry out the work the very next day … all in a rush.

Environmental and civic groups sprang to the park’s defense and called the police after ascertaining that the workers had no documents, except a copy of the decision taken the day before. The police then temporarily stopped the felling.

Unfortunately, this brief observance of the law was nipped in the bud. The destruction of trees continued. Since May 21, the police have either done nothing while protesters were assaulted or have beaten or detained those who want to protect the trees.

No preliminary work was carried out to mark the trees destined for felling and cordon off the area to ensure safety from falling trees, this being in flagrant violation of the law.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Mykhailo Dobkin issued a statement on May 28 in which he claimed that construction of the road falls in line with general plans for the city, and that the decision to build it was taken by the сity executive committee back in 2005. He asserts that “all relevant permits” for the construction work have been obtained, including the necessary environmental services and the plan was approved by the Ministry for Regional Construction back in 2008. But these permits, if they exist, have not been made public. There have been no public hearings, as required by law.

Since May 21, when the tree chopping resumed, young environmental activists have been trying to provide physical protection for the trees. From May 22 through May 24, more trees were cut than had been outlined by the May 19 resolution, and the chopping continued. The workers were carefully removing all traces of the trees which environmentalists believe was a deliberate attempt to conceal the scale of destruction.

At 4 a.m. on May 25, around 100 police officers escorted workmen into the park and encircled the area. There were about 20 activists keeping vigil. They tried to protect the trees with their bodies by holding onto them, but were dragged away and beaten by police officers. There are plenty of accounts of this on YouTube.

Even more disturbing were the events that followed. On May 27, at 4 a.m., an excavator arrived to the area and its driver lowered the scoop right onto the feet of activists, holding it there for three to four minutes. An ambulance was called, as well as the traffic police. The ambulance took several activists to the hospital, including one, lawyer Oleksandr Solovyov, who suffered a concussion of the brain. The traffic police failed to show up. The incident is also recorded on YouTube.

Even worse actions followed on May 28. Around 50 men of athletic build, with badges saying “municipal security” entered the secured area and past a number of police officers. Armed with badges and muscles, they formed a chain and began brutally pushing the tree defenders out, beating some of them.

The unidentified individuals failed to produce any form of identification, but the police acted even stranger. When they finally responded to the protester’s call for help, they detained 10 activists defending the trees, who were victimized during that clash.

Those protesters, and three more later (including one representative of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group), were taken to the police station. They were charged under article 185 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (refusing to obey a police officer) despite a lack of resistance to anybody, except some unnamed thugs with badges from an anonymous municipal service. Video accounts of the event clearly show it. However, those detained were held in the police station for eight hours.

Kharkiv Human Rights Group, which is representing the park defenders, has reason to believe that the authorities are planning to present fictitious witnesses who will assert that they saw resistance.

Kharkiv journalists have issued a statement in solidarity with journalist colleagues injured in the course of their work, while the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, uniting 29 prominent human rights groups, has issued an open appeal to the prosecutor general.

Kharkiv Police Chief Oleksandr Barannik justified the actions of police in an interview to the Ukrainian BBC Service. The chief claimed that the protesters had committed an offense and that, once a work permit has been issued, the area becomes a building site and no civic organization has the right to get in their way.

But where is the permit? A decision by the Kharkiv City Executive Committee does not give sufficient authorization. None of the safety measures required by law were taken, and are only now being put in place. Most importantly, no documents have been presented.

By now, one of the environmental organizations defending Gorky Park has asked its members to stop their vigil given the dangerous actions of the authorities. Other protesters have refused to move and are continuing to stand guard – not for money, but in defense of their rights and those of their fellow citizens.

The actions of the police, foremost their failure to protect peaceful protesters from a large number of aggressive assailants, is deeply disturbing. It makes the claim by Dobkin that the planned road should unite all those concerned with the appearance of the city aspiring to European identity seem grotesquely hollow.

Postscript

On June 1, human rights sites published a response received from the Ministry for Environmental Protection which states clearly that the tree chopping is illegal since the local Development for the Environment did not carry out an environmental impact assessment, nor were there any public hearings. On that same day, a Kharkiv Internet publication proved that the planned works were not a part of the general plan for the city.

Yet at 4 a.m. in the morning of June 2, some 50 thugs in black turned up at the site, together with workmen and police. While the police looked on and did nothing, the thugs assaulted those who tried to protect the trees. At the time, there were 15 tents and around 100 tree defenders.

The trees have now been destroyed.

Court cases loom for those tree defenders arbitrarily detained by the police who clearly understand whose interests they were there to defend – clearly not the public’s interest.

Halya Coynash is a member of Kharkiv Human Rights Group, www.khpg.org