Court consideration of the administrative offence of «Pora!» activists

In the previous issue of «Prava ludyny» we wrote about the use of law-enforcing organs as a tool for persecution of activists of the youth movement «Pora!» and other organizations that supported the candidate from opposition. On 16 November mass detentions took place in Lugansk, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and other towns. In the majority of cases, owing to the active reaction of human rights protecting organizations, these repressions were stopped. Everywhere, where these organizations protected the detained, the legal aid was rendered in time, and the accusations were not confirmed.

Such situation occurred, for instance, in Kharkiv, where on 17 November six activists of «Pora!» were detained: five Kiev and one Kharkiv dwellers. They spent the night in the Dzerzhinskiy district militia station, and on the next day the court considered the protocol on administrative violation according to Article 185 part 2 of the Code on Administrative offences. The young men were defended by advocate Volodymir Zinchenko, invited by the Kharkiv group for human rights protection in the framework of rendering of legal aid to the victims of violations of human rights. V. Zinchenko lodged the petition, in which he demanded to summon the officers of law-enforcing organs in connection with their illegal actions: the advocate insisted that there had been no grounds for the detainment. On the same day the activists of «Pora!» were released, and consideration of the case was postponed.

Two more court sittings were held, and on 7 December the final decision was issued: the «Pora!» activists were released from the administrative responsibility, the court pronounced only oral reproof.