EU MPs Call for ‘Open’ Inquiry Into Political Persecution in Ukraine

Members of the European Parliament and Ukrainian lawmakers have signed a petition addressed to the Ukrainian president to carry out a fair investigation into the trial of political prisoners, published on the UApolitfreedom project Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Among those who supported the initiative were Janusz Korwin-Mitte, a member of the European Parliament from Poland, Belgian lawmaker Frank Kreelman, Mateusz Piskorski, the chairman of the Polish Change party, Enrique Ravello, a Catalan parliamentarian, and Miloslav Ransdorf, a lawmaker from the Czech Republic.

"Realizing the complexity of the political situation in Ukraine, we urge the leadership of the country, acting as a guarantor of human rights, to initiate an open and public investigation of all the criminal cases with signs of political persecution and which runs counter to the generally recognized rules of law, and to conduct a wide-ranging amnesty on its results," the petition read.

According to the petition which has been posted online, it has become 'typical' for Ukraine to conduct acts of political repression.

"Many people of various political convictions, which are judged sometimes just because of the language they use, nationality or a certain area they live, were permanently arrested, tortured, and were subjected oppression," the petition claimed.

The petition was initiated by Yana Lantratova, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), and backed by prominent politicians, human rights activists and experts from a total of 16 countries, including the representatives of the European Parliament.