Two Luhansk students detained, then expelled for political theater lampooning Yanukovych (10/24/04)

Two Luhansk students detained, then expelled for political theater lampooning Yanukovych

by Tatiana Matychak
Special to the Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - Two students of Luhansk National Agrarian University (LNAU) were detained on September 18 by local state militia and expelled from the university two days later for campaigning against presidential candidate and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The incident was another on an ever-increasing list of charges of the illegal use of administrative resources by the Yanukovych campaign in the final days before the presidential election in Ukraine.

The two individuals, Oleksander Kirilov and Kostiantyn Kosenko, now ex-students, said on October 12 during a press conference in Kyiv that they were detained and then kicked out of the university for doing a parody of the current prime minister.

During what has become a traditional pre-election concert organized in Luhansk by local authorities in support of the standing prime minister's presidential campaign, on September 18 two students of LNAU did a parody of Mr. Yanukovych on the city's main square before the concert. They put on traditional prisoners' garb, and using prison jargon and mannerisms said that they, too, wanted to be president as a rap beat played in the background. Behind them, a banner proclaimed, "I, too, want to be president."

The statement was full of spelling errors. The prison garb and the misspellings were a spoof of Mr. Yanukovych's criminal past and his penchant for misspelling Ukrainian words.

Within several minutes of the beginning of their performance, as Mr. Kirilov explained, they were detained by the police, beaten and imprisoned for two days.

"The policemen did not immediately tell us the reason for our detention," said Mr. Kosenko, "but we are sure that it was a political one."

The state militia post of the Lenin District in Luhansk, where the ex-students were held, told The Weekly that the two students were charged with "petty hooliganism," because they had disturbed the organization of the concert. They were made to pay a fine of 51 hrv. The chief at the police station denied that any beating had taken place.

At their press conference in Kyiv Messrs. Kirilov and Kosenko cited several reasons for their acts of September 18. They said they wanted to express their distrust of the current Ukrainian political establishment; to prove that officials of their university were subordinate to the local political authorities; and to determine whether the militia would adhere to the laws on such public displays, which are not illegal.

Their prison detention was followed by expulsion from the university. Mr. Kirilov claimed that the reason was that they had supported Mr. Yushchenko.

"The dean told me, 'You will be expelled if you do not take down the portrait of Yushchenko in your dormitory room,' " explained Mr. Kirilov. "That threat was followed by a series of others by professors and vice-rectors."

Vice-Rector for Academic Performance Vadym Matveev responded to the assertions made by the students by noting that: "Our educational establishment supports the candidacy of Mr. Yanukovych. That is the reason we try to persuade our students of the advantages he brings. However, we do not threaten them and do not use administrative methods."

Valerii Rudenko, the dean of the Veterinary Faculty where Mr. Kirilov studied, said his student was expelled because of his habit of missing class.

"I am not a truant," Mr. Kirilov countered at the press conference. "I am an A student and I was preparing to graduate with honors."

Mr. Kirilov was a member of the Regional Student Council and winner of the regional Student Leader contest the previous year. That is why, he said at the press conference, he was quite sure he would not be expelled from the university.

When Messrs. Kosenko and Kirilov discovered that they had been expelled and evicted from the dormitory, they asked Mr. Putintsev to talk to LNAU Rector Valentyna Tkachenko and to figure out the true reasons for their expulsion.

Anatolii Putintsev, head of the Yushchenko campaign in the Luhansk region, who has become a consultant for the two students in their fight to get reinstated at the university, said that the school authorities are now scared.

"As soon as Ms. Tkachenko's secretary told her about my issue, the rector ran out through another entrance," he explained at the press conference. "She became frightened by the possible sequences."

The next day the ex-students and Mr. Putintsev came to the university together and took a person with a video camera with them. Vice-Rector Matveev met them in the entranceway with security guards and refused to let them in.

"You will not come in, because you have come to campaign for Mr. Yushchenko," he said - words that were caught on tape.

Then, Mr. Mateev told the security men to take the threesome out by force, an act that also was caught on tape and shown during the press conference. Mr. Kosenko said that after the incident his university group was disbanded and his friends were now being threatened.

LNAU Rector Tkachenko refused to comment on any of the issues related to the circumstances in which the two students now find themselves.

Mr. Kirilov said he assumed the rector had to act in such a way because there was pressure being brought to bear on her by local authorities. When Mr. Yushchenko traveled to Luhansk on October 17 during his pre-election campaign, he appealed to the oblast chairman to help the students, which he explained at a campaign rally on Teatralna Square in the city. The local prosecutor is currently looking into the matter.

Nevertheless the situation at the university remains strained. Most of the professors who told The Weekly that they do not support the position of the LNAU officials regarding the students, nonetheless said they did not want their names cited in the press.

One professor who wished to remain unidentified said that at the last meeting with the academic body on October 18, the rector said: "Yanukovych has to become the president. If Yushchenko gets power, civil war will break out. The Yushchenko campaign team is pressuring me, but I will get what I want."

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