Video of Ukrainian police shooting demonstrators on Feb. 20 during the EuroMaidan Revolution.
In the case of the president, his publicity wave included picking up the baton on something that is a very sensitive topic to the entire nation of Ukraine, the investigation into the deaths of pro-democracy and anti-corruption protesters who were shot in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2014.
It is appropriate to highlight the timing.
Abromavicius resigned on Feb. 3
The president received news on Feb. 5 from Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin and head of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Hrytsak that fragments of 23 weapons had been found, with ID numbers filed off. This information was released on the president’s website with a picture the three men, presumably from that Feb. 5 meeting.
In suitably formal tones, the presidential website states that: “Respective data was submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of the Interior.”
And, further: “The president emphasized that all those guilty of the execution of Maidan activists must be brought to justice, inter alia, those who gave the criminal orders. This information “increases the evidence base substantially and helps bring to justice not only those who killed Ukrainian Heroes, but also those who ordered the murder and provided the weaponry”.”
Excellent.
The Security Service of Ukraine (commonly known as the “SBU” based on the initials from the local language name of the service) then went on to release the following images of the discovery of the weapons cache.
Weapons not discovered recently
The point where this starts to unwind now is that those photographs clearly show that the discovery of these weapons is certainly not recent. The green foliage on the trees and the lack of snow on the ground are clear indicators that these images were taken in summer time and the fact that there is one neat hole dug in the exact spot where the weapons have been recovered would suggest that this find was the result of a tip-off, and some pretty exact information.
Is it reasonable to assume at this point that the president, in collusion with the prosecutor general and the head of the SBU might be acting together at this time because it is convenient timing, politically? If so, it is unacceptable to toy with this topic.
It is also unacceptable that there has been an apparent delay of six months from the weapons being “discovered” (the SBU were taken to a spot and told “dig there” it appears) and nothing has been said about this until now. If, as it seems, the uncovering of these weapons last summer was as a result of a detailed tip-off, there was likely no doubt on day one of exactly what was being recovered. This information has been suppressed, deliberately and disgracefully.
Investigation delays
A thorough investigation into the slaughter on Institutskaya Street on Feb. 20 has been delayed, the authority responsible for criminal investigations such as this is the Prosecutor General’s Office, this body is headed up by Shokin, affairs beyond the control of the president and prosecutor general (i.e. reacting to the fallout from the resignation of one of the country’s top ministers, and the accusations that accompanied that) appear likely to be the catalyst for this development in the investigation at this time. Unacceptable, on many levels.
There have been various criticisms leveled at Shokin, the failure of his office to bring charges against anyone of the thoroughly and brazenly corrupt cronies of former President Viktor Yanukovych are chief amongst these criticisms.
These failures suggest that he is either being coerced or induced into not making these investigation, because if anybody actually bothered to look at Yanukovych era corruption evidence cannot be hard to uncover. It is highly significant that instead of accepting these criticisms and acceding to multiple demands to appoint a prosecutor who might actually investigate without bias and bring about much-needed prosecutions, at this time the president chooses to give Shokin a public display of his personal blessing.
In a BBC TV interview, former President Viktor Yanukovych, now living in exile in Moscow of course, was asked about those shootings. He said that he did not give the order to fire, and stated that he did not have the authority to give that order. I wish the interviewer had followed up by asking him: “who did give the order? Who did have such authority?” These are the questions that Shokin, seemingly in collusion with the President, is also not tackling. Or, at the very least, these are the questions about which drops of information will be released at times of politically necessity or convenience.
I am reminded now of the murder of Georgiy Gongadze, the journalist killed on Sept. 16, 2000, the investigation into which is still dragging on.
Video footage is clear
I like to be positive, so, Mr President, Mr. Shokin, and Mr. Hrytsak; let me assist you in your investigation by providing video footage from that day. I should point out that this information is in the public domain and, therefore, you could have analysed it at any time before now had you been so inclined. As this is raw video footage it is brutal in places, but it also provides something you appear to be allergic to, it is called “evidence” and it is abundant.
There were at least five men with faces uncovered on Bankova Street and on Institutskaya Street. Find out who they are. Now. You have their faces, this is not a tough task. The nation demands an answer. However inconvenient that answer may be to some people, it is unacceptable to me and others who were on Maidan that day that answers to questions such as this are eked out at times of political expediency. I do not accept that you cannot find out who these five men are, they are clearly senior figures standing in the vicinity of the Presidential administration coordinating the shootings.
Next, two of the snipers are very distinctive, their faces were covered but they should be identifiable both by their distinctive choice of tactical clothing and also by their choice of killing machine, I believe that a sniper’s rifle is something that is very personal to each individual engaged in that speciality. Someone must know who these weapons belong to, who these weapons were being fired by, being unable to come up with an answer to this question is unacceptable. That we have taken two years to not come up with answers to this question is unacceptable.
These people are elite. The number of people who have had this training and who have this equipment is very small. To drag this investigation out further is unacceptable. If you are unwilling or unable to come to conclusions, resign your posts, now. Shame on you for your manipulation of the timing of this announcement, stop insulting the intelligence of the people of Ukraine. Clean up your act, or get out.
