aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Fwd: more Kyiv news

[Robert De Lossa <rdelossa@fas.harvard.edu>]

[from a member. N.b. that the "U.S. national rectors" must refer to 
Fr. Borys Gudziak.]


Several thousand West Ukrainian students protest against detentions
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Mar 13, 2001



Text of report by Ukrainian television on 13 March

[0044-0250] [Presenter Viktor Kovalenko] A student protest demanding that
students detained during the 9 March clashes in Kiev be released is under
way in Lviv. Several thousand students from virtually all of the Lviv higher
educational establishments rallied today. They are now twice as many as
yesterday [Ukrainian television reported yesterday that about 2,000 students
took part]. Svitlana Khrushchak reports.

[Correspondent] Only some of the students detained in Kiev returned to Lviv
today. Seven more representatives from the civic resistance committee For
Truth are still being kept at a remand centre. The slogan of today's rally -
"Freedom for the students" - acquired a much deeper meaning today. In the
past day, information has been spread in Lviv that the Security Service of
Ukraine has begun to persistently work on the heads of higher educational
establishments. Rectors who are US nationals are being directly threatened
with deportation.

[Ruslan Kavatsyuk, captioned as a student of the religious academy] The SSU
will not succeed in intimidating us through our rectors, by actions against
our rectors and against our administration. We have deep respect for them
because they have been patient with us and are trying not to prevent us from
demonstrating our will.

[Correspondent] Students held several rallies today. At first they rallied
near their respective higher educational establishments, and then all of
them set on off for the Lviv Regional State Administration to pass their
demands to Kiev through the administration's representatives. The demands
are the same: releasing students, preventing reprisals and bringing
law-enforcement officials to book for arbitrariness.

[Taras Opyr, captioned as a student from Lviv Polytechnic] We have already
signed a statement to the head of the city court demanding that the sentence
against us be cancelled, because the trial itself was held unlawfully. We
hope that this will be done. If this is not done, we will appeal to [courts
of] higher jurisdiction. I hope we will succeed in this.

[Correspondent] It was also announced at the rally that students' resistance
committees For Truth were being created throughout Ukraine. They are already
operating in Ternopil, Lutsk, Rivne and Lviv and are being created in Kiev,
Cherkasy, Vinnytsya and Poltava.

[Yuriy Lutsenko, captioned as co-coordinator of the Ukraine without Kuchma
protest] If we hold a serious, well-coordinated students' strike this will
be a huge, and probably the last, protest so that the overall protest
movement to change the situation in Ukraine wins.

[Correspondent] The protest organizers emphasize that the strike will be
carried out without resort to force. In a week, it is planned to get
students to take part in an all-Ukrainian meeting. It will take place
simultaneously in at least 10 Ukrainian cities.

[Video shows students with their arms raised clapping hands, students
marching carrying slogans, students' rally near university; female students
chanting "Down with Kuchma"; and student with slogan "Hands off students"]

Source: Ukrainian New Channel television, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1200 gmt 13 Mar
01