18 June 2004 18:34
Ukrainian opposition leader denounces attacks on Russian centre
Kiev, 18 June: The leader of the Our Ukraine bloc, Viktor Yushchenko, has demanded that the Security Service of
Ukraine [SBU] find and bring to justice those who ordered and carried out the attacks on the Russian cultural centre in
Lviv. Yushchenko wrote this in a letter to the SBU chief, Ihor Smeshko, Yushchenko's personal web site said.
"The frequency and high profile of these crimes cast doubt on the `hooliganism' version pursued by the
police. These are acts of provocation orchestrated by certain political forces interested in inciting ethnic strife and
destabilizing the situation in the country," Yushchenko said.
He added that any attempts to jeopardize interethnic peace and harmony threaten Ukraine's national security, the
rights and freedoms of its people. That is why the SBU must join the investigation and "slap on the wrist those who
want to play the ethnic card", the letter said.
The Our Ukraine press secretary, Iryna Herashchenko, recalled that Yushchenko had earlier "publicly addressed
the Interior Ministry through the media demanding that the Russian cultural centre and the Russian book shop in Lviv be
provided with round-the-clock security to protect them properly and prevent provocations. But the Interior
Ministry's leaders, as is known, are doing other duties which are not natural for the ministry and distant from law
enforcement."
As reported earlier by UNIAN, unidentified men attacked the Russian cultural centre in Lviv on 16 June. The director
of the centre, Oleh Lyutikov, said that three young men entered the building at 1825 [1525 gmt] and began smashing
placards in front of the person on duty. When the centre's activists came from other rooms, the hooligans ran out
of the building and threw stones and at the centre's employees who tried to chase them.
Lyutikov added that it is the second attack this year. The centre was attacked five times last year and none of those
cases had been solved.
[UNIAN news agency] |
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