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The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative was set up in response to the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.

Claim demanding to stop the construction of the atomic station

13.12.2002   
The series of articles devoted to the construction of the additional atomic reactors at the Khmelnitska and Rivne atomic electric stations.
On 29 March 2002 six Ukrainian students, members of the Public committee of national safety of Ukraine, turned to the Pecherskiy district court of Kyiv with the claim against the National company of atomic energy "Energoatom". The students demanded "to realize the right for the safe environment" and to immediately stop financing of the construction of the second energy block of the Khmelnitska atomic energy station (AES) and the fourth block of the Rivne AES. The plaintiffs affirm that the construction of these atomic blocks is illegal, since it was not confirmed by the state ecological expertise, so it violates the right of the claimants for safe environment and menaces their health, thus violating operating laws.

On 24 April the Pecherskiy district court rejected the claim since, they said, the claimants turned to the court not for protecting their own rights, but on behalf "of the entire society", for which they had no officially confirmed rights. Thus the Pecherskiy court deprived the citizens to fight for their rights in court.

On 8 May 2002 the plaintiffs turned to the Appeal court of Kyiv demanding to guarantee them the opportunity to protect their rights in court and to cancel the decision of the Pecherskiy court about the rejection of their claim. In particular, Tetiana Movtian, the advocate of the claimants, told that the latter turned to the district court with the claim about protecting their own rights, and the "entire society", referred to by judge Olena Umnova, was not mentioned in the claim at all. Representative of the plaintiffs Oleksiy Tolkachov, a Coordinator of the Public committee of national safety of Ukraine, explained the rejection of the claim by unwillingness of the Pecherskiy court to consider the case, which may disclose the illegality of constructing the additional blocks of the Khmelnitska and Rivne AES and draw the public attention to brutal abuse of human rights in the sphere of using atomic energy in Ukraine.

On 12 June the Kyiv appeal court canceled the decision of the Pecherskiy district court. So, now the district court will have to consider the claim of the six students.

Press center of the Public committee of national safety of Ukraine

44 B. Khmelnitski St., Kyiv; tel. 568-29-67; fax: 265-51-80; e-mail: [email protected]  

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