Pro-democracy activist from Serbia denied entry at Boryspil
Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) has barred a Serbian national involved in western-funded democratic initiatives connected to the upcoming presidential elections from the country.
Ukrainian border guards at Boryspil Airport detained Alexander Maric on the evening of Oct. 12, after he returned to the country following a six-day trip to Budapest and Serbia, and put him on an early flight the next day back to Serbia.
Maric had a multi-entry visa to Ukraine on the invitation of U.S.-based Freedom House, a non-governmental organization which aims to encourage democracy worldwide. Anatoliy Samarchenko, a spokesperson at Ukraine’s Border Service, said his service guards denied Maric entry to Ukraine by order of the SBU.
As of midday Oct. 13, Ukrainian officials had provided no explanation for why Maric had been barred from Ukraine. Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs distanced themselves from the incident.
“Alexander Maric, arriving to Ukraine at the invitation of Freedom House, has been denied entrance to Ukraine by the Border Guards of Boryspil Airport. Despite the efforts of Freedom House and the United States Agency for International Development to find out an official explanation of the situation, no explanation was offered yet,” reads a statement issued by Freedom House on Oct. 13.
“After spending the night in the airport, Alexander was sent back to Serbia this morning. To this moment and despite our efforts, Freedom House has received no official explanation of the incident,” the letter reads.
Maric, who worked as a civil-society activist in Serbia and Georgia, has worked in Ukraine on democracy-building initiatives for more than a year and was most recently involved in a project co-sponsored by Freedom House called Znayu (“I know”).
Dmytro Potyekin, a coordinator at Znayu, said the initiative’s work is directed at educating voters ahead of the presidential elections. It is financially supported by many non-governmental organizations, including the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and the Europe 21 Foundation, he added.
In a statement issued through Znayu, Maric said he was baffled and troubled by the incident.
“I’ve been to Ukraine many times, and this country and its good people have enchanted me,” Maric said, adding that he was kept overnight at the airport together with criminals and narcotics dealers. “This is my first arrest and first night in detainment.”
“They deported me without explanation. I do not consider this a step for Ukraine in the direction of Europe, democracy, civil society and so forth,” Maric added.
Citing Maric, Potyekin said Maric’s mobile phone, documents and belongings were temporarily seized and later returned.
Samarchenko denies these claims and said that Maric was detained in a waiting hall and not with criminals.
Alina Inayeh, Chief of Party of Freedom House’s Citizen Participation in Elections in Ukraine project, said Maric worked with Freedom House in Ukraine sporadically taking part in consulting on projects involving non-partisan voter education.
“The program is fully and officially registered with the Ukrainian authorities,” she said. “None of the activities under the program are secret, and none is meant to support a specific candidate or party. Activities are aimed at encouraging citizens to exercise their right and to help ensure the freedom and fairness of elections.”
Under the program, Freedom House has used the services of trainers and consultants from Croatia, Slovakia, and Serbia to assist Ukrainian NGOs in designing and implementing their own non-partisan activities, using the skills they have developed in their own activities in their respective countries, Inayeh added.
