Russian journalist Alexander Kosvintsev is the first foreigner to receive political asylum in Ukraine.
Photo: Îëüãà Òàðíàâñêàÿ
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Russian Receives Asylum in Ukraine
Russian journalist Alexander Kosvintsev has received political asylum in Ukraine after that his is the target of persecution from the authorities for writing exposes on the activities of Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleev. Kosvintsev applied for asylum in February 2007. He lives in Kiev and works as the editor-in-chief of Vechernie vesti (Evening News) newspaper.
It is the first time that that country has given political asylum to a foreigner. Belarusian dissidents applied for political asylum and were immediately refused it. A group of Uzbeks with criminal convictions were initially approved for political asylum, but the national security service insisted that the decision be reversed.
Kosvintsev came into conflict with the authorities in Kemerovo region and with its governor after writing stories about abuses in medical facilities and by the police and other official agencies. The last straw, he says, was his support of Garri Kasparov's United Civic Front. “I know that the governor wrote to political denouncement of him to the regional prosecutor. That was the command to sic.”
Mikhail Gangan and Anastasia Kurt-Adzhieva, organizers of the Samara March of the Dissenters, are also now located in Ukraine.
“This is bad news for Russian-Ukrainian relations,” commented Konstantin Zatulin, director of the Institute of the Countries of the CIS. “It is a political decision.” Supreme Rada member from the Our Ukraine – People's Self-Defense faction Alexander Chernovolenko commented that “The fact that Ukraine provides shelter like that means that our state carries out a democratic foreign policy without paying attention to how Russia will react to its actions.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 04, 2008
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