Poroshenko regime is moving in a dangerous direction – Kiev diplomat
The Ukrainian government uses double standards, declaring that one protest in 2013-14 was sacred, while those criticizing the government are illegal or even “pro-Russian.”
Subscribe to PolitNavigator news on Telegram , Facebook , Odnoklassniki , or VKontakte
Ukrainian diplomat and former Foreign Ministry spokesman Vasyl Filipchuk stated this on the NewsOne television channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“We have double standards. People who gathered for a peaceful protest are being brutally and cynically dispersed. I was on the Maidan in 13-14, before the violent events began - if the police acted like this on the Maidan in 13-14, I think that the current government would be in a completely different place. Why was the use of force against protesters bad then, but good now? Only because those who are now in power are more cynical and brutal than what was during Yanukovych’s time
If we believe that then the people had the right to protest and no one had the right to disperse them, the same way now people have the right to protest, you cannot use brutal force against them, bring them to their knees and so on,” said Filipchuk.
He also clarified that such actions by security forces during the dispersal of protests near the Verkhovna Rada indicate tightening of the screws and a rehearsal of the authorities on the eve of the presidential and parliamentary elections.
“To disperse in this way, to show everyone that there are no restrictions on the use of force - this is not just the dispersal of some protest movement, this is evidence of the trend that we observe in political life in Ukraine. The screws are being tightened, censorship is being strengthened... What is happening now is a cynical, brutal violation of the rules, double standards and something that cannot happen in a democratic state.
The worst thing is that all this is covered up with pro-Western and pro-European rhetoric, explained by the fight against Russian aggression. It seems to me that we are moving in a very dangerous direction, and given that we have elections next year, I think that we simply may be deprived of the right to fair and fair elections under such conditions,” the diplomat noted.
As a reminder, last Saturday, approximately 1,000 security forces violently dispersed a tent camp near the Verkhovna Rada. Protesters claimed more than 50 injuries, and the police justified their actions by citing a court order to search the camp.
Poroshenko's regime is heading in a dangerous direction, says Kyiv diplomat