Luhansk: Potential parliamentary candidate summoned by the police

OPORA reports that Serhiy Shakhov, potential parliamentary candidate for the No. 107 single-mandate electoral district in the Luhansk oblast was summoned for questioning to the Stakhanov Police. The summons did not, as required by the Criminal Procedure Code, stipulate the time of the questioning, with the words “immediately appear” used instead of a specific hour.

When handing over the summons, the police officers refused to give the reason for the summons. Mr Shakov refused on 9 August to respond to the summons saying that he needed to consult with his lawyer which would require 5 days.

According to Vadim Zhelezny from Shakhov’s Press Service, “Serhiy Shakhov’s summons to the police station right at the time that parliamentary candidates are being registered is done with only one aim – to prevent our candidate from registering with the Central Election Commission. The police are in this way creating additional obstructions to registration so that Serhiy Shakhov doesn’t go to Kyiv to registration and putting psychological pressure on him.”

As reported, on 8 June 2012 the police tried to detain the well-known business man and likely parliamentary candidate when Shakhov was speaking with voters in Pervomaisk. On 20 June police obstructed members of the Serhiy Shakhov Charitable Fund from erecting a children’s play area in a sleeping district of Pervomaisk.