Left wing activists arrested and tortured in Odessa
On the night of Friday, September 12, three left wing activists, members of Borotba, the Communist Party and the Communist Youth, were arrested in Odessa by the Internal Security Service (SBU), under the accusation of terrorism.
Those arrested are Vladislav Wojciechowski, a member of Borotba and survivor of the Odessa massacre on May 2nd; Pavel Shishman, a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine; and Nikolay Popov, a member of the Communist Youth.
A statement on Borotba’s site gives more details about the arrest of Wojciechowski:
“During the search of the apartment where he lived, explosives were planted.
Nazi “self-defense” paramilitaries participated in his arrest. Vladislav was beaten, and it is possible that a confession was beaten out of him under torture. Currently, he is in SBU custody.
The arrest of Comrade Wojciechowski shows that the Poroshenko regime is not interested in civil peace, but continues to arrest activists for political reasons.
Union Borotba (Struggle) demands the immediate release of political prisoner Vladislav Wojciechowski!”
Wojciechowski was also very active in the movement for justice for the victims of the Odessa massacre and was one of the editors of the website www.2may.org.
The SBU is accusing those arrested of being part of the “Ukrainian Red Army” and of planning to carry out a terrorist attack. Comrades of the arrested activists insist that the explosives and weapons were planted by the SBU.
On September 14, a young student, Ivan who decided to go to the SBU headquarters in Odessa to demand freedom for political prisoners was in turned arrested by the SBU.
This is what a Borotba statement says:
“Ivan, a student who demanded the release of political prisoners Vlad Wojciechowski and Nikolai Popov, was arrested on September 14 at 14:00 near the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Odessa.
He went out to picket by himself with a banner reading, “Freedom for political prisoners Vlad Voitsekhovsky and Nikolai Popov!”
Two minutes after the start of the protest, unidentified people came out of the SBU building and took him to the local police.
There he was told that these comrades were allegedly preparing a terrorist attack to blow up a hospital. They forced him to write a statement and leave his address. And they put it on the record.
Ivan has no relation to Union Borotba and other organizations; he read the information about the detention of the above-mentioned comrades on the Internet and offered to help them.
Recall that Borotba activist Vladislav Wojciechowski was arrested on the evening on September 12. During the search of Vlad’s home, the SBU planted explosives. They brought charges against him for “terrorism.” Nazi “self-defense” paramilitaries participated in Vlad’s arrest.”
We ask all supporters of the campaign to contact the Ukrainian authorities demanding the immediate release of the four Odessa activists arrested and of all political prisoners.
You can find a full lists of Ukraine embassies in the world here: http://mfa.gov.ua/en/about-mfa/abroad/embassies
