SBU says questioning of civic activists was lawful

In a letter to the NGO Democratic Alliance, the Security Service [SBU] has claimed that all meetings took place “solely on the basis, within the framework of their powers and in a manner envisaged by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine”.

The Democratic Alliance, in their turn, say that they are prepared to provide any information regarding their work on the basis of an official request for information.

They also demand that the SBU stop “the Soviet practice of carrying out unofficial meetings and “prophylactic” conversations for the purpose of imposing pressure, intimidating, influencing and interfering in the functioning of a civic association”.

The SBU earlier issued a statement claiming that the Democratic Alliance’s allegations were distorted and warning them of liability for circulating false reports.

As reported here,  on 21 September Democratic Alliance received a telephone call from a person identifying himself as an SBU officer,  He “invited us to a meeting where he asked questions about the sources of financing both of the Cherkasy regional branch of the Democratic Alliance and the central management bodies of the organization”,