A post appeared on 12 April 2016 in the blog section of the Ukrainian magazine and Internet publication Korrespondent, entitled “The Secret Letter of Ruslan Kotsaba from the Courtroom of 8 April 2016”. As it follows from the hand-written letter, the author apparently passed it to his lawyer for publication during a court appearance.
Kotsaba called for an end to what he referred to as a fratricidal conflict, appealing to all sides to listen to reason for the sake of preserving Ukraine as a country. He was arrested after publicly stating his refusal to take part in a mobilization called by the regime to fight the rebels in the Donbass.
Since his arrest in February 2015 he has been refused bail and has been held in prison by way of preliminary detention. His plight has attracted some international notice as he was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, a human rights organization.
It seems that Kotsaba’s incarceration was part of an intimidation campaign by the post-Euromaidan regime to silence critics of its war in the East. It is the campaign that has been largely responsible for the near-absence of dissent in the Ukrainian media and especially on the TV, where all reporting and opinion inconsistent with governmental policy has been excised.
As reported by Amnesty International, journalists and others voicing disagreement are routinely harassed, imprisoned or killed in mysterious circumstances. Given many other “separatists” thrown into prison on spurious charges, Kotsaba’s fate could have hardly been rated as unusual had it not been for one thing: he was one of those who had worked long and hard to bring the current regime to power.
He was an active participant in the Orange Revolution of 2004, with his activism going back all the way to the Revolution on the Granite of 1990 when students protested against Soviet rule. But this time Kotsaba apparently mustered enough moral sense to see the depravity of a war on his fellow Ukrainians, as well as sufficient judgment to realize the danger of intercommunal strife to the country.
Unlike other activists he held back from arguing that those disagreeing with the Euromaidan were a fifth column that deserved to be crushed by force, and called the conflict a civil war.
Following below is a translation of Kotsaba’s letter:
“Hello to all who can read this prison letter. My lawyer Tetiana Mykolayivna has just said she would be able to post this message somewhere on the internet, as a first post in a personal blog of mine, so I won’t waste time…”
“I have now been illegally detained for 15 months at a local detention facility. Before my arrest I worked as a war journalist of the TV channel 112-Ukraine, and at the same time, ie in social networks, as an anti-war blogger.”
“Obviously, as a responsible Ukrainian patriot and a father of two little daughters, I tried my best to bring to the brain-washed masses the horrible truth about this civil-oligarchic war. And that, without avoiding the shocking facts about the front-area smuggling, racketeering, plundering, robbery, the unending frontline drinking and hostage trading.”
“I spoke about the geopolitical dishonesty of the United States and Russia, who are ready to turn our fratricide in the Donbass into a mini-world war! About the treacherous, sated Europe, scared of millions of Syrian refugees who flooded rich countries of the European Union, — I also told about that.”
“But as it happened, all these posts, on my personal pages on Facebook and YouTube, now feature in the charges brought by the security service and the prosecutor’s office. For the truthful coverage of the civil war I risk getting as much as of 12 to 15 years of prison time. Outrageous.”
“I believe that God will give me strength to bear with dignity all these trials that I have received as a reward for calling sane Ukrainians not to respond to evil with evil, and uphold God’s commandment “You shall not kill”. For as long as I am in prison I offer to use the facility of the internet blog so that all those willing could ask me any question to which I promise to answer thoroughly and honestly.”
“In time, I hope, I will pass my writings to those outside the prison walls, and the readers will learn about my position on various issues. It takes a while, but, on the other hand, there will be no twisting and misrepresentations. I wish you all luck. I pray here in my prison cell that our Ukrainian sky should see peace and harmony as soon as possible. I hope for understanding.”
“Sincerely, the present-day Ukrainian political prisoner Ruslan Kotsaba.”
