Ukraine's authorities to be called to account at European Court for Odessa tragedy

Members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation (PCRF) are preparing a petitions to the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR). The petition demands calling to account the Ukrainian authorities and estimating their guilt for the mass killing of citizens in Odessa and the death of civilians in other Ukrainian cities, Georgy Fyodorov, Member of the Public Chamber, told the newspaper Izvestia.

"We are gathering information and preparing to file a suit against Ukraine with the Human Rights Council to the ECHR," he emphasized.

Izvestia recalls, "On May 2, during street clashes with nationalists, Odessa anti-Maidan activists found themselves shut inside the House of Trade Unions. Right-Sector radicals and their supporters set the building on fire and blocked exits from it, as a result of which people inside the building could not get out of the burning building: 46 people died and more than 200 sustained burns and injuries. Those who managed to get out of the burning building were done away with by radicals who staged the arson".

Georgy Fyodorov, president of the Center for Social and Political Studies 'Aspekt'" (aspect) and Member of the Public Chamber, believes that the Kiev authorities seek to justify their crimes against their own people.

"They need to lay the blame at somebody else's door and tell the Europeans that mythical provocateurs from Russia are guilty of everything," he said.

The text of the petition reads as follows: "As of now, the rights of a large proportion of citizens in the State of Ukraine are not upheld by anyone inside that state! People are kidnapped and taken away to an unknown destination without any chages brought against them. They are robbed and killed with impunity. Agencies that are responsible for the maintenance of law and order keep inactive. The self-styled government is stirring up and contributes to fomenting interethnic hatred and genocide against part of its own people!"The filing of a suit with the ECHR is being initiated by both the Public Chamber members and Internet users. In the Internet, a group of citizens has already launched a mass campaign for the collection of signatures to the petition to the European Court. The activists are calling on the ECHR to call Ukraine's authorities to account for crimes against their own people.

The petition has been already signed by about 2,000 citizens, among them people of Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Greece, Germany, and other countries.